Crime Victims

Vincent Cable: To ask the Solicitor-General if he will make a statement on his role in enhancing the position of victims of crime in the criminal justice system.

Mike O'Brien: The Government are committed to placing victims at the heart of the criminal justice system.
	The prosecutors' Pledge, issued last month, sets out for the first time the level of service victims can expect to receive from prosecutors. Separately, the "No Witness, No Justice" programme is being implemented and there are now some 131 witness care units providing support to victims and witnesses. The CPS has recently concluded a pilot of the use of independent advisers to help victims of domestic violence through the prosecution process, and I am looking at ways of building on its success by piloting a similar project in rape cases.

Community Justice

Graham Allen: To ask the Solicitor-General what steps the Crown Prosecution Service has taken to support the concept of community courts and community justice panels in Nottingham and other parts of England; and if he will make a statement.

Mike O'Brien: The CPS is committed to improving the way it engages with the communities it serves and published a Community Engagement Strategy in May 2005. The CPS has played an important role in developing the first community court projects in North Liverpool and Salford.
	It will, however, be necessary to carefully evaluate these projects before considering wider roll out.
	In Nottingham, the Chief Crown Prosecutor intends to explore options for developing community justice approaches through the local Criminal Justice Board.

Special Advisers

John Hemming: To ask the Solicitor-General if he will list the special advisers in post in the Law Officers Departments, broken down by pay band; and what the total budgeted cost to these Departments of special advisers is for 2005–06.

Mike O'Brien: None, the Law Officers Departments employ no special advisers.

Endangered Species (Northamptonshire)

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what her latest assessment is of the most endangered species of (a) flora and (b) fauna in Northamptonshire; and what steps are being taken to reverse their decline.

Jim Knight: As with so many other lowland areas in England, wildlife habitats in Northamptonshire have been deteriorating in quality and becoming more fragmented. This has been due to a number of factors, such as:
	past intensification of agriculture;
	water management;
	invasive non-native species;
	inappropriate management of woodlands;
	development pressures;
	and more recently, climate change.
	As a result there has been a decline in the area and quality of wildlife habitat and their associated species, in particular traditional hay meadows and birds such as snipe and lapwing.
	A number of measures are in place to address these issues:
	The new agri-environment schemes (Higher Level and Entry Level Stewardship Schemes) are being taken forward across the county;
	The Local Biodiversity Action Plan (LBAP) has identified a number of priority actions and targets, such as re-creation of limestone grassland on arable land, led in Northamptonshire by the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough;
	The Milton Keynes South Midlands Growth Area has focused efforts on the contribution to sustainable communities of "green infrastructure". A great deal of work, led by the River Nene Regional Park, has been carried out to determine how and where natural assets (including BAP habitats) should be restored, and recreated to protect and enhance Northamptonshire's natural environment, alongside the growth agenda;
	The Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits SSSI will be notified on 24 November 2005, safeguarding 1,390ha of gravel pits and wet woodland, as well as internationally important number of wintering birds. Approval is currently being sought from Defra for consultation on the Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits pSPA
	Government objectives for planning as stated in PPS9 are to conserve, enhance and restore the diversity of England's wildlife and geology;
	For the future, the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill provides an extension of the CROW biodiversity duty to public bodies and statutory undertakers to ensure due regard to the conservation of biodiversity.

Specialist Teachers

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to address shortages in specialist teachers.

Jacqui Smith: Since 2000, we have provided £6,000 bursaries to PGCE trainee teachers in a range of priority subjects. We have also provided them with a £4,000 "Golden Hello". From September 2005 the bursary for mathematics and science trainees rose to £7,000, and from September 2006 it will increase to £9,000 for all priority subject trainees. Mathematics and science teachers will also be provided with an increased "Golden Hello" of £5,000 (£2,500 for other priority subjects).

University Access

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans she has to require university places to be allocated after A-level grades have been awarded.

Bill Rammell: The Department is currently consulting on a number of proposals for changes to the higher education applications process, including the option of introducing a system of "post-qualification applications" (PQA). The consultation offers two possible PQA models and welcomes the idea that new approaches may appear as a result of the discussion the consultation will stimulate. The consultation ends on 5 December after which there will be a period to analyse the responses.

Local Education Authorities

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding each local education authority in England received in (a) 2005–06 and (b) 1996–97.

Jacqui Smith: Comparable figures are not available for 1996–97. The following table sets out the figures for 1997–98 and 2005–06. Total funding includes funding via education formula spending/standard spending assessment and revenue grants allocated at an LEA level. It excludes the pensions transfer to EPS and the Learning and Skills Council, and is in real terms.
	
		1997–98 and 2005–06 total funding by LEA, real terms £ million
		
			 LEA no. LEA 1997–98 2005–06 
		
		
			 202 Camden 96.9 133.6 
			 203 Greenwich 136.8 200.5 
			 204 Hackney 114.7 172.1 
			 205 Hammersmith and Fulham 68.3 103.9 
			 206 Islington 99 142.9 
			 207 Kensington and Chelsea 42.2 69.2 
			 208 Lambeth 118.8 178.2 
			 209 Lewisham 134.5 196.8 
			 210 Southwark 131.9 205.4 
			 211 Tower Hamlets 152.5 235.4 
			 212 Wandsworth 108.3 159.8 
			 213 Westminster 72.3 115 
			 301 Barking and Dagenham 87 143.1 
			 302 Barnet 144.4 211.9 
			 303 Bexley 110.5 164.9 
			 304 Brent 133.8 205.7 
			 305 Bromley 131.2 206.3 
			 306 Croydon 147.8 221.6 
			 307 Ealing 135.6 208.1 
			 308 Enfield 147 228.8 
			 309 Haringey 117.5 178.5 
			 310 Harrow 88.1 129.4 
			 311 Havering 105.9 152.8 
			 312 Hillingdon 114.9 183.2 
			 313 Hounslow 116.6 172.9 
			 314 Kingston upon Thames 57.6 91.2 
			 315 Merton 71.8 103.5 
			 316 Newham 163.7 257.7 
			 317 Redbridge 122.8 190.7 
			 318 Richmond upon Thames 57.1 83 
			 319 Sutton 83.4 134.2 
			 320 Waltham Forest 118 175.6 
			 330 Birmingham 542.6 811.6 
			 331 Coventry 145.6 210 
			 332 Dudley 124.6 192.7 
			 333 Sandwell 145 212 
			 334 Solihull 92.1 134.5 
			 335 Walsall 133.4 195.3 
			 336 Wolverhampton 120.5 175.1 
			 340 Knowsley 91.1 118.9 
			 341 Liverpool 256.4 338.3 
			 342 St. Helens 82.2 117.8 
			 343 Sefton 130.2 186 
			 344 Wirral 157.7 222.1 
			 350 Bolton 124.7 185.8 
			 351 Bury 75.5 110.8 
			 352 Manchester 223.1 309.9 
			 353 Oldham 116.7 171.2 
			 354 Rochdale 102.4 153.2 
			 355 Salford 101.4 140.8 
			 356 Stockport 110.9 155.3 
			 357 Tameside 101.2 145.2 
			 358 Trafford 96.2 137.7 
			 359 Wigan 135 191.5 
			 370 Barnsley 94 137 
			 371 Doncaster 145.6 204.1 
			 372 Rotherham 125.3 184.7 
			 373 Sheffield 207.5 313.2 
			 380 Bradford 255.4 370.8 
			 381 Calderdale 94.1 142.7 
			 382 Kirklees 176.2 260.7 
			 383 Leeds 312.9 450.4 
			 384 Wakefield 137.9 202.7 
			 390 Gateshead 83 120.8 
			 391 Newcastle upon Tyne 124.3 165.9 
			 392 North Tyneside 84 121.1 
			 393 South Tyneside 73.4 102 
			 394 Sunderland 139.5 188.2 
			 800 Bath and North East Somerset 66.1 98.8 
			 801 Bristol, City of 144.8 204 
			 802 North Somerset 73 111 
			 803 South Gloucestershire 98 152.7 
			 805 Hartlepool 45.1 67 
			 806 Middlesbrough 74.3 90.3 
			 807 Redcar and Cleveland 71.5 97.6 
			 808 Stockton-on-Tees 87.8 124 
			 810 Kingston upon Hull, City of 124.7 168.9 
			 811 East Riding of Yorkshire 127.1 194.4 
			 812 North East Lincolnshire 78.9 107.6 
			 813 North Lincolnshire 69.3 99.4 
			 815 North Yorkshire 229.9 349.1 
			 816 York 64.4 91.8 
			 820 Bedfordshire 174 258.3 
			 821 Luton 95.9 141.1 
			 825 Buckinghamshire 209.3 314.7 
			 826 Milton Keynes 102.3 156.7 
			 830 Derbyshire 290.2 442.2 
			 831 Derby 103.1 155.2 
			 835 Dorset 143 219.9 
			 836 Poole 54 74.8 
			 837 Bournemouth 60.4 82.4 
			 840 Durham 219.5 311.1 
			 841 Darlington 42.2 62.7 
			 845 East Sussex 184.5 278 
			 846 Brighton and Hove 87.7 127.2 
			 850 Hampshire 475.4 685.2 
			 851 Portsmouth 76.5 105.5 
			 852 Southampton 91.2 125.5 
			 855 Leicestershire 244 366 
			 856 Leicester 148.1 206.3 
			 857 Rutland 13 20 
			 860 Staffordshire 343.1 486.9 
			 861 Stoke-on-Trent 107.2 154.5 
			 865 Wiltshire 168.8 263.3 
			 866 Swindon 77 113.5 
			 867 Bracknell Forest 45 63.5 
			 868 Windsor and Maidenhead 54.9 82.7 
			 869 West Berkshire 64.3 104.1 
			 870 Reading 50.3 75.2 
			 871 Slough 61.2 95.7 
			 872 Wokingham 62.5 95.7 
			 873 Cambridgeshire 202.7 309.8 
			 874 Peterborough 86.7 127.1 
			 875 Cheshire 283 409.3 
			 876 Halton 65.2 86.7 
			 877 Warrington 83.7 119.9 
			 878 Devon 257.4 389 
			 879 Plymouth 118.1 160.9 
			 880 Torbay 52.8 77.1 
			 881 Essex 556.9 833.5 
			 882 Southend-on-Sea 72.5 115.3 
			 883 Thurrock 63.3 97.7 
			 884 Herefordshire 64.7 98.8 
			 885 Worcestershire 217 309.9 
			 886 Kent 585.2 895.1 
			 887 Medway 126.9 180.8 
			 888 Lancashire 497.5 705.8 
			 889 Blackburn with Darwen 76.7 113.1 
			 890 Blackpool 54.5 89.2 
			 891 Nottinghamshire 308.8 452.1 
			 892 Nottingham 137.7 175.8 
			 893 Shropshire 108.6 106.4 
			 894 Telford and Wrekin 70.4 160.4 
			 908 Cornwall 199.6 293 
			 909 Cumbria 204.7 308.8 
			 916 Gloucestershire 227.5 343.2 
			 919 Hertfordshire 474.7 693 
			 921 Isle of Wight 56.6 84.2 
			 925 Lincolnshire 262 419.8 
			 926 Norfolk 306.2 457.5 
			 928 Northamptonshire 273.1 408.4 
			 929 Northumberland 140.6 203.2 
			 931 Oxfordshire 237 346.9 
			 933 Somerset 185.2 282.1 
			 935 Suffolk 270.3 391.5 
			 936 Surrey 380.1 573.7 
			 937 Warwickshire 198.7 300.9 
			 938 West Sussex 289.9 426.4 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Price base: real terms at 2004–05 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 28 September 2005.
	2. Figures reflect relevant sub-blocks of education SSA/EFS settlements and exclude the pensions transfer to EFS and LSC.
	3. Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DfES departmental expenditure limits relevant to pupils aged 3–19 and exclude education maintenance allowances (EMAs) and grants not allocated at LEA level.
	4. Where responsibility for funding a school has transferred from an LEA, related funding no longer appears in the series.
	5. Rounding: figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 million.
	6. Status: 2005–06 figures are provisional as some grants have not yet been finalised/audited.
	7. 1997–98 figures for LEAs subject to local government re-organisation in that year have been estimated, pro-rata to their post LGR figures.

Adult Education

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what Government funding for adult education courses has been in each of the last five years for which records are available, broken down by local authority.

Phil Hope: The Department allocates funds for education and training in the post-16 learning and skills sector, including adult education, to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC was established in 2001 bringing the planning and funding of post-16 education together under one body.
	In 2001–02 the Learning and Skills Council spent £2,236 million on adult programmes including FE, Work Based Learning, Adult and Community Learning and other programmes. This increased to £2,427 million in 2002–03 and to £2,866 million in 2003–04. These figures are available in the LSC's published accounts. Figures for adult education for the years prior to 2001 are not comparable as the budget was split between a range of different organisations. The Departmental Annual Report sets out total expenditure on Further Education, Adult Training and Skills and Lifelong Learning for this period.
	My Department does not hold funding figures for adult education at the local level. As the allocation of funding in local areas relates to the LSC's operational responsibilities, the LSC's Chief Executive, Mark Haysom, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested. A copy of his reply has been placed in the Library.
	Letter from Mark Haysom to Dr. Vincent Cable, dated 4 November 2005
	I write in response to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, referred to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) by Phil Hope, regarding funding for adult education courses in the last five years.
	Unfortunately the LSC does not hold this information broken down by local authority. However, we are able to provide the information you requested broken down by local LSC area for each of the years since the inception of the LSC, in 2001.
	I attached 2 spreadsheets, the first listing the funding allocations as above, the second explaining the programme funding contained within the "Other" column for each year.
	
		Expenditure on Adult Education Programmes: Financial Year 2001–02
		
			 LSC LSC name ACL FE WBL Other Total 
		
		
			 EE060 Norfolk 1,491,252 17,564,780 1,836,697 1,411,227 22,303,956 
			 EE070 Cambridgeshire 1,525,848 17,509,709 1,518,644 1,737,492 22,291,693 
			 EE080 Suffolk 1,884,708 11,974,544 1,996,544 1,395,186 17,250,982 
			 EE090 Bedfordshire and Luton 1,239,216 17,774,462 859,639 1,211,184 21,084,501 
			 EE100 Hertfordshire 1,853,772 23,140,444 1,851,169 2,048,265 28,893,650 
			 EE110 Essex 5,396,508 26,951,950 3,144,294 2,837,725 38,330,477 
			 EE900 East England Regional Office 0 0 0 0 0 
			 EM010 Derbyshire 4,726,184 34,043,535 2,253,311 2,726,306 43,749,336 
			 EM020 Nottinghamshire 2,286,396 55,236,902 3,413,353 2,927,240 63,863,891 
			 EM030 Lincolnshire and Rutland 1,743,888 17,773,016 1,867,103 1,491,945 22,875,951 
			 EM040 Leicestershire 4,780,836 35,549,033 1,350,876 2,445,267 44,126,012 
			 EM050 Northamptonshire 1,488,048 14,579,674 1,847,237 1,256,980 19,171,939 
			 EM900 East Midlands Regional Office 0 0 0 0 0 
			 GL120 London—North 3,461,880 53,794,704 1,569,344 3,300,310 62,126,238 
			 GL130 London—West 4,842,252 59,113,594 1,986,021 4,048,885 69,990,752 
			 GL140 London—Central 9,125,808 110,550,419 2,756,463 8,265,431 130,698,121 
			 GL150 London—East 11,091,060 97,639,299 3,121,406 6,887,834 118,739,599 
			 GL160 London—South 5,726,880 39,341,618 2,552,931 2,828,792 50,450,221 
			 GL900 Greater London Regional Office 0 0 0 0 0 
			 NE170 Northumberland 167,043 5,980,322 881,131 533,884 7,562,380 
			 NE180 Tyne & Wear 3,149,412 53,547,415 3,600,054 3,215,160 63,512,041 
			 NE190 County Durham 1,495,452 16,434,382 1,050,307 1,159,926 20,140,067 
			 NE200 Tees Valley 2,782,788 26,526,548 2,625,859 2,568,828 34,504,023 
			 NE900 North East Regional Office 0 0 0 0 0 
			 NW210 Cumbria 1,023,492 13,376,794 1,403,428 1,069,267 16,872,982 
			 NW220 Lancashire 6,475,500 56,873,632 3,603,830 3,699,169 70,652,132 
			 NW230 Greater Merseyside 5,343,300 57,133,442 5,987,930 4,122,187 72,586,860 
			 NW240 Greater Manchester 9,651,933 98,995,154 7,899,402 8,838,023 125,384,512 
			 NW250 Cheshire and Warrington 1,508,292 23,207,549 2,864,273 1,999,872 29,579,987 
			 NW900 North West Regional Office 0 0 0 0 0 
			 SE260 Milton Keynes, Oxon and Bucks 4,158,048 29,746,359 3,299,050 3,262,785 40,466,242 
			 SE270 Berkshire 2,588,940 23,642,736 2,405,102 2,028,302 30,665,080 
			 SE280 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 1,618,716 50,265,847 3,441,615 3,698,675 59,024,853 
			 SE290 Surrey 2,832,696 19,134,168 782,527 1,752,752 24,502,143 
			 SE300 Sussex 3,218,568 33,310,850 2,831,186 2,832,082 42,192,686 
			 SE310 Kent and Medway 6,036,432 35,109,395 3,332,919 2,935,675 47,414,421 
			 SE900 South East Regional Office 0 0 0 0 0 
			 SW320 Devon and Cornwall 4,598,964 45,709,961 4,716,282 3,292,954 58,318,162 
			 SW330 Somerset 2,780,688 15,981,793 822,292 2,182,567 21,767,339 
			 SW340 Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole 1,336,668 18,529,074 2,031,351 1,449,215 23,346,309 
			 SW350 West of England 1,339,944 39,204,702 1,813,922 2,320,398 44,678,967 
			 SW360 Wiltshire and Swindon 468,388 20,413,021 1,131,243 1,469,035 23,481,687 
			 SW370 Gloucestershire 1,891,656 13,949,740 1,340,082 1,100,466 18,281,944 
			 SW900 South West Regional Office 0 0 0 0 0 
			 WM380 Shropshire 486,120 12,941,103 3,093,089 880,770 17,401,082 
			 WM390 Staffordshire 2,161,200 33,609,202 2,660,575 2,364,946 40,795,923 
			 WM400 Black Country 3,745,591 52,371,633 3,147,419 3,943,365 63,208,008 
			 WM410 Birmingham and Solihull 4,342,824 78,758,818 3,111,389 9,490,332 95,703,363 
			 WM420 Herefordshire and Worcestershire 399,528 21,069,563 1,812,696 1,790,840 25,072,627 
			 WM430 Coventry and Warwickshire 3,948,360 36,668,744 2,084,865 2,804,470 45,506,438 
			 WM900 West Midlands Regional Office 0 0 0 0 0 
			 YH440 North Yorkshire 2,175,720 20,179,281 1,703,836 1,455,046 25,513,883 
			 YH450 West Yorkshire 4,361,988 67,440,906 4,405,869 5,806,952 82,015,716 
			 YH460 South Yorkshire 1,959,144 46,502,082 3,416,988 3,590,644 55,468,858 
			 YH470 Humberside 2,718,720 30,983,254 2,117,560 1,860,028 37,679,562 
			 YH900 Yorkshire Regional Office 0 0 0 0 0 
			 AA* National Office 0 59,160,075 34,864,843 2,295,860 96,320,778 
			 Total  153,430,650 1,769,295,232 154,207,949 138,634,545 2,235,568,877 
		
	
	Key:
	ACL—Adult Community Learning.
	FE—FE Participation.
	WBL—Work Based Learning (19+ Apprenticeships).
	Other—Other Adult Programmes.
	
		2001–02
		
			 PQ Cat L2 Description 
		
		
			 Other Adult Discretionary Student Support 
			  Adult Information Advice and Guidance 
			  FE Summer Schools 
			  Local Workforce Development 
			  MG Rover Inward Investment 
			  Neighbour Learning in Deprived 
			  New Entrepreneur Scholarships 
		
	
	
		2002–03
		
			 PQ Cat L2 Description 
		
		
			 Other Adult Discretionary Student Support 
			  Adult Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant 
			  Adult Information Advice and Guidance 
			  Bite Size Courses 
			  Family Learning and Adult Learning Promotion 
			  Family Literacy and Numeracy 
			  FE (New) Childcare Places 
			  FE Summer Schools 
			  Health and Safety Booklets 
			  Improving the Training Market 
			  Local Workforce Development 
			  Local Workforce Development—PBR Pilots 
			  MG Rover Inward Investment/BMW Hams Hall 
			  National Promotions 
			  Neighbour Learning in Deprived 
			  New Entrepreneur Scholarships 
			  Promoting Vocational Qualifications 
			  Skill and View 
			  Skills Intelligence Network 
		
	
	
		2003–04
		
			 PQ Cat L2 Description 
		
		
			 Other Adult Discretionary Student Support 
			  Adult Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant 
			  Adult Information Advice and Guidance 
			  Adult Learning Grant—Marketing 
			  Bite Size Courses 
			  Family Learning and Adult Learning Promotion 
			  Family Literacy and Numeracy 
			  FE (New) Childcare Places 
			  FE Summer Schools 
			  Health and Safety Booklets 
			  Improving the Training Market 
			  Local Workforce Development 
			  Employer Training Pilots 
			  MG Rover Inward Investment/BMW Hams Hall 
			  National Promotions 
			  Neighbour Learning in Deprived 
			  New Entrepreneur Scholarships 
			  Promoting Vocational Qualifications 
			  Skill and View 
			  Skills Intelligence Network 
			  Union Learning Fund 
			  Workforce Development—IIP Small Firms Initiative 
		
	
	
		2004–05
		
			 PQ Cat L2 Description 
		
		
			 Other Adult Discretionary Student Support 
			  Adult Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant 
			  Adult Information Advice and Guidance 
			  Adult Learning Grant—Marketing 
			  Adult Policy Development 
			  Adult Skills Pilot 
			  Basic Skills 
			  Bite Size Courses 
			  Equality and Diversity Support 
			  ESF Match Funding 
			  Family Learning and Adult Learning Promotion 
			  Family Literacy and Numeracy 
			  FE (New) Childcare Places 
			  FE Summer Schools 
			  Footballers Programme 
			  Health and Safety Booklets 
			  Improving the Training Market 
			  Local Workforce Development 
			  Employer Training Pilots 
			  MG Rover Inward Investment/BMW Hams Hall 
			  National Promotions 
			  National Rates Advisory Group 
			  NCS Delivery 
			  NCS Employer Pilots 
			  Neighbour Learning in Deprived 
			  New Entrepreneur Scholarships 
			  New Technology Institutes 
			  NIACE Memo of Understanding 
			  Offenders in the Community 
			  Promoting Vocational Qualifications 
			  Regional Skills Funds 
			  Research 
			  Skill and View 
			  Skills Intelligence Network 
			  TUC Course Materials 
			  Union Learning Fund 
			  Voluntary and Community Strategy 
			  Work Based Learning—Skills Task Force Rec 
			  Workforce Development—IIP Small Firms Initiative

Education (Tamworth)

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in Tamworth constituency attended nursery in each of the past 10 years; and how many have taken up free nursery places since the policy was introduced.

Beverley Hughes: All four-year-olds have been entitled to a free early education place since 1998 and from April 2004 this entitlement was extended to all three-year-olds. The free entitlement consists of a minimum of five two and a half hour sessions per week for 33 weeks of the year for six terms before statutory school age, which is the term following their fifth birthday.
	Some local authorities may additionally offer subsidised child care places but this information is not collected centrally.
	Figures for January 2005 show that all four-year-old children receive some form of free entitlement. The figure for three-years-olds is 96 per cent. This covers all maintained, private, voluntary and independent providers and represents 535,100 three- year-olds and 568,300 four-year olds.
	The available information on the number of free nursery education places taken up by three and four-year-olds in Tamworth parliamentary constituency area and Staffordshire local authority is shown in the tables.
	For 2005, information for private and voluntary providers is available for Staffordshire but not currently available for Tamworth constituency.
	The latest figures on early education places for three and four-year-olds in England were published in Statistical First Release 43/2005 "Provision for children under five years of age in England—January 2005 (final)" in September, which is available on my Department's website www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/.
	
		Number of free nursery education places(1) taken up by three and four-year-oldsParliamentary constituency: TamworthPosition in January each year
		
			  Three-year-olds Four-year-olds 
			  Maintained nursery and primary schools(2) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers(3) Maintained nursery and primary schools(4) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers(5) 
		
		
			 2004 260 610 900 120 
			 2005 310 n/a 900 n/a 
		
	
	n/a = Not available
	1 Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.
	(1) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(2) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(3) Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(4) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	
		Number of free nursery education places(5) taken up three and four-year-oldsLocal authority: StaffordshirePosition in January each year
		
			  Three-year-olds Four-year-olds 
			  Maintained nursery and primary schools(6) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Total 3- year-olds Maintained nursery and primary schools(7) Other maintained and private, voluntary and independent providers Total 4-year-olds 
		
		
			 1997 3,500 (8)— 3,500 (8)— (8)— (9)9,600 
			 1998 2,700 (8)— 2,700 (8)— (8)— (9)9,700 
			 1999 2,700 (8)— 2,700 (8)— (8)— (9)9,500 
			 2000 2,600 (10)0 2,600 (8)— (8)— (9)9,400 
			 2001 2,600 (10)440 3,000 (8)— (8)— (9)9,200 
			 2002 2,600 (10)1,700 4,200 8,400 (9)640 9,100 
			 2003 2,300 (10)3,500 5,800 8,500 (11)810 9,300 
			 2004 2,200 (12)4,500 6,700 7,900 (13)860 8,800 
			 2005 2,600 (12)4,100 6,700 7,500 (13)950 8,400 
		
	
	(5) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate.
	(6) Headcount of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(7) Headcount of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Annual Schools' Census.
	(8) Not available.
	(9) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.
	(10) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Nursery Education Grant data collection exercise.
	(11) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census supplementary data collection exercise and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(12) Part-time equivalent number of children aged three at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	(13) Part-time equivalent number of children aged four at 31 December in the previous calendar year from the Early Years Census and the Annual Schools' Census.
	Changes in pupil figures may arise from changes to the underlying population in the local authority area and other factors. However, my Department doesn't publish population figures for individual age cohorts at sub-national level because of the unreliability of the underlying population estimates. The Office for National Statistics publish sub-national population estimates in five-year age bands.

Education Act 1996

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on the operation of sections (a) 403, (b) 404, (c) 405, (d) 406 and (e) 407 of the Education Act 1996.

Jacqui Smith: The Department issued "Sex and Relationship Guidance" to head teachers and school governors in 2000. This outlines the requirement to have an up-to-date policy on sex and relationship education available to parents for inspection. The guidance reminds schools to teach children about the nature of marriage and its importance for family life. The guidance also outlines the right of parents to withdraw children from the non-statutory elements of sex education. We have explained the rights of parents in the SRE and Parents leaflet and on the DfES Parents Centre website. Ofsted in its survey "Sex and Relationship Education in Schools" (2002) reported that over nine out of 10 schools have a sex and relationship education policy. Ofsted has also indicated that 0.04 per cent. of parents exercise the right to withdraw their children from sex education lessons.
	DfES offers guidance to school governors on political activities in schools through the "Governors Guide to the Law".

Education White Paper

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether restrictions will be introduced to the freedom self-governing schools have to set their own admissions criteria under the provisions of the White Paper Higher Standards, "Better Schools for All".

Jacqui Smith: The existing regime which is designed to ensure a fair admission system, that is flexible enough to take account of local circumstances, will apply to trust schools in the same way as it does to other maintained schools. No trust school will be able to introduce any form of selection by ability and all will have to comply with the restrictions on selection by aptitude that apply to all maintained schools. Admission authorities for maintained schools must comply with admissions and equal opportunities legislation, and have regard to the School Admissions Code of Practice when setting their admission criteria. Other schools and local authorities can object to the Schools Adjudicator about any criteria that they consider are unfair or are not in line with the Code. Where the Adjudicator upholds an objection, his decision is binding.

Education White Paper

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what safeguards will be put in place under the provisions of the White Paper "Higher Standards, Better Schools for All", to prevent a significant number of large failing schools being closed in the same area.

Jacqui Smith: The proposals in the White Paper "Higher Standards, Better Schools For All" strengthen the intervention powers available to local authorities to tackle failing schools.
	Authorities are expected to consider the appropriate solution for a failing school in the light of the circumstances of the school. Under the White Paper's proposals they are expected to consider closure where a failing school is making inadequate progress after 12 months.
	However, authorities will retain the responsibility to secure the provision of school places and to promote high standards. Where there is a need for a new school either to replace an existing closing school or to meet population growth, the LA will be able to hold a competition and invite promoters to bring forward proposals for a new school.

Further Education Spending

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the level of funding per pupil in further education has been in each year since 1997 in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency.

Bill Rammell: The Department allocates funds for education and training in the post-16 learning and skills sector, to the Learning and Skills Council (LSC). The LSC was established in 2001 bringing the planning and funding of post-16 education together under one body.
	Since 1997 government funding for further education has increased by around £2.5 Billion—equivalent to around 48 per cent. in real terms. Between 1997 and 2005 funding on participation per full-time equivalent student has increased by 49 per cent. in cash terms and 23 per cent. in real terms
	My Department does not hold figures on what the level of funding per pupil in further education has been in each year since 1997 in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency. As the allocation of funding in local areas relates to the LSC's operational responsibilities, the LSC's Chief Executive, Mark Haysom, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested. A copy of his reply has been placed in the Library.
	Letter from Mark Haysom to Tim Farron, dated 26 October 2005
	As you will be aware Bill Rammell, in the written reply he gave you on 17 October to your Parliamentary Question, indicated that he would ask me to write to you.
	The LSC came into being on 1 April 2001 and the information you have asked for is, therefore, only available for 2002/03, 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2005/06. The figures for 16–18 year olds (average rate per full-time equivalent) are shown below for Kendal College, the only further education college in your constituency, and distinguishes between the Council's allocation and the College's final claim (except for 2005/06 which, of course, is not yet known).
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2002/03  
			 Allocation 2,936 
			 Final claim 3,096 
			   
			 2003/04  
			 Allocation 3,510 
			 Final claim 3,678 
			   
			 2004/05  
			 Allocation 3,800 
			 Final claim 3,728 
			   
			 2005/06  
			 Allocation 4,103 
		
	
	You may be aware that a recent independent report by the Learning and Skills Development Agency identified a number of technical "anomalies" where the application of the LSC's methodology differs between the school and further education sectors. The report highlighted these anomalies as contributing to the difference in the funding for 16–18 year old students in school sixth forms and those in sixth form and FE colleges.
	The statement on schools' funding made in July 2005 by Jacqui Smith, the Schools Minister, included a programme of work to address the anomalies between school sixth form and college funding. This will be taken forward as part of the LSC's agenda for change programme.
	I hope you find the above helpful. Do not hesitate to contact our local Executive Director, Mick Parley, who I know you have met, if you would like any more detailed information.

Looked-after Children

Neil Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children per 10,000 children are looked after by local authorities in the (a) Inner London local authorities, (b) Outer London local authorities, (c) English metropolitan authorities outside London, (d) Wigan metropolitan borough council area, (e) Salford city council area, (f) Knowsley metropolitan borough council area, (g) South Tyneside council area, (h) Leeds city council area and (i) Wolverhampton city council area.

Beverley Hughes: The information requested may be found in Table 1 of "Children looked after by local authorities, Year Ending 31 March 2004, Volume 2: Local Authority Tables". This is available from the Department's website at:
	http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/VOL/v000569/vweb01–2005_2.pdf

Schools

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much additional funding has been given to (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools in South Swindon constituency in addition to their standard spending assessment, in each year since 1997.

Jacqui Smith: The following table sets out funding for Swindon local education authority for each year from 1997–98 to 2005–06. Total funding includes funding via education formula spending/standard spending assessment and revenue and capital grants allocated at an LEA level. It includes the pensions transfer to EPS and the Learning and Skills Council from 2003–04, and is in cash terms.
	It is not possible to break down the funding for primary schools and secondary schools in South Swindon constituency.
	
		SSA/EFS, grants and total funding (£ million) in Swindon (cash terms)
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 SSA/EFS 62.8 67.8 73.3 77.3 80 82.1 92.8 97.3 103.2 
			 Revenue Grants 2.8 2.0 3.1 6.9 9.8 12.5 12.3 13.5 15.6 
			 Capital Grants 1.5 3.0 5.2 6.1 4.3 15.2 80.2 11.5 9.2 
			 Total funding 67.1 72.8 81.6 90.3 94.1 109.8 185.3 122.3 128 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Price Base: Cash
	Figures reflect relevant sub-blocks of education SSA/EFS settlements. Figures from 2003–04 include the pensions transfer to EPS and LSC, the figures prior to 2003–04 have not been adjusted.
	Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DfES departmental expenditure limits relevant to pupils aged 3–19 and exclude education maintenance allowances (EMAs) and grants not allocated at LEA level.
	Where responsibility for funding a school has transferred from an LEA, related funding no longer appears in the series.
	2. Capital Grants: 2002–03 includes £7.5 million for basic need additional provision; 2003–04 includes £9.8 million for basic need additional provision and a PFI allocation of £62.8 million; 2004–05 includes £1.6 million targeted capital fund; 2005–06 includes £2.4 million targeted capital fund.
	3. Rounding: Figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1 million.
	4. Status: 2003–04 to 2005–06 figures are provisional as some grants have not yet been finalised/audited.

Schools

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much has been allocated for (a) capital repairs and (b) new buildings in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in the South Swindon area in each year since 1997.

Jacqui Smith: Capital allocations are recorded on a local authority basis, and the following table lists the allocations to Swindon borough council and schools in its area. Local authorities determine which proportion of their formulaic capital allocations shall be spent on capital repairs or new buildings, also on primary or secondary schools. Accordingly, no record is held centrally of these four categories.
	
		
			  £000 
		
		
			 1997–98 1,450 
			 1998–99 3,049 
			 1999–2000 5,208 
			 2000–01 6,056 
			 2001–02 4,289 
			 2002–03 15,164 
			 2003–04 80,240 
			 2004–05 11,594 
			 2005–06 9,182 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The large increase is due to a rise in Basic Need funding.
	2. The large amount of funding this year is due to a £62.3 million Private Finance Initiative, and a high Basic Need allocation.
	Further information on funding can be found on the website: www.teachernet.gov.uk under the heading, "Introduction to Capital Funding for School Buildings".

Schools

Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many surplus places there were in (a) primary, (b) middle and (c) secondary schools in each local authority area in (i) 2000 and (ii) 2005; how many there are forecast to be in each year from 2006 to 2010; and on what (A) basis and (B) assumptions those forecasts were made.

Jacqui Smith: The information requested has been placed in the House Libraries.

Sure Start Plus

Edward Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many teenagers under the age of 18 years have been involved with the Sure Start Plus scheme since 2001; and how many of these live in (a) Wakefield district and (b) Normanton constituency.

Beverley Hughes: The data requested is not available at a national level. However, based on a survey carried out during a six month period in 2001, a team at the Institute of Education estimated that around 53 per cent. of young women conceiving during that period were supported by the pilot programmes (based on monitoring returns from 27 out of 35 programmes). Take-up of the programme is likely to have increased since 2001, which was the first year of the pilot.
	Management information from Wakefield Sure Start Plus programme shows that just under half of young women whose conceptions resulted in a birth were supported by the programme in 2003. No information is available for the numbers of young women resident in Normanton constituency who were supported through the programme.

Teenage Pregnancy

Edward Balls: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much funding the Government have spent on schemes to lower the rate of teenage pregnancy in (a) Wakefield district and (b) Normanton constituency in each year since 1997; and what expenditure is planned for future financial years.

Beverley Hughes: Details of the grant paid to Wakefield are provided in the table below. Teenage pregnancy funding was available from 1999/2000 onwards. No payments were made prior to this. Funding for the Sure Start Plus pilot is separately identified. We cannot separately identify the proportion of the grant spent in Normanton constituency.
	
		
			   £000 
			  Local implementation Sure Start Plus 
		
		
			 1999/2000(14) 50 — 
			 2000/01(14) 30 — 
			 2001/02(14) 180 125 
			 2002/03(15) 180 125 
			 2003/04(15) 239 125 
			 2004/05(15) 273 125 
			 2005/06(15) 273 125 
			 Total 1,225 625 
		
	
	1 Paid to Wakefield Health Authority
	2 Paid to Wakefield local authority
	Decisions on allocations to individual local authorities for 2006/07 to 2007/08 have not yet been made. However, the overall total grant allocation for the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy will be the same in 2006/07 to 2007/08 as it was in 2004/05 and 2005/06 (with the exception of Sure Start Plus funding, which will cease on 1 April 2006).

Under-achievement

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what progress has been made towards reducing the disproportionate rate of exclusion of boys from (a) white working class backgrounds, (b) Afro-Caribbean backgrounds and (c) minority ethnic groups.

Jacqui Smith: Departmental data (2003/04) shows that Black boys are permanently excluded at over twice the rate of White boys. This data also shows disproportionately high rates of both fixed period and permanent exclusion of pupils from some minority ethnic groups including Travellers of Irish Heritage and Black Caribbean; although encouragingly, it shows that the rate of permanent exclusion of Black pupils has decreased from 58 pupils in 10,000 in 1997/98 to 29 in 10,000 in 2003/04. We do not collect data on the socio-economic groups of excluded pupils.
	We are committed to reducing the disproportionate rate of exclusion experienced by some minority ethnic groups. In September we wrote to local authorities to highlight this, and to urge them to analyse their data more rigorously and take appropriate action. We expect all secondary schools to be working in partnerships by September 2007 to provide early intervention and support for pupils at risk of exclusion and those that are excluded; in particular for pupils from Black and other minority ethnic groups.

Domestic Rates

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what use is being made of computer-assisted mass appraisal in the Northern Ireland domestic rates revaluation.

Angela Smith: The Valuation and Lands Agency (VLA), which is carrying out the domestic revaluation in Northern Ireland is at the forefront of CAMA application in the UK. It is currently being used by VLA to produce first pass capital values for the vast majority of the 715,000 domestic properties being revalued as at 1 January 2005 for publication in April 2006.
	Although some property types, notably apartments and the domestic element of mixed residential/commercial properties are being valued by the traditional "manual" method, approximately 90 per cent. of the entire housing stock in Northern Ireland will be assessed on a capital value basis using Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal techniques. These "first pass" values generated will be subject to a review and verification process.

Domestic Rates

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what his estimate is of the gross revenue to be raised in local domestic rates (a) in Northern Ireland and (b) in each council in Northern Ireland in (i) 2005–06 and (ii) 2006–07; and what revenue was raised in 2004–05 in each case.

Angela Smith: Domestic rates consists of two elements, the regional rate, set by the Secretary of State on a uniform basis across Northern Ireland, and the district rate, set separately by each district council relevant to the location of the property.
	The total revenue raised in 2004–05 and estimated revenue to be raised in 2005–06 through domestic rates in Northern Ireland are contained in the Table 1:
	
		Table 1 £ million
		
			 District rate 2004–05 2005–06(15) 
		
		
			 Antrim 4.6 4.9 
			 Ards 7.9 8.4 
			 Armagh 5.5 5.8 
			 Ballymena 5.4 5.7 
			 Ballymoney 2.5 2.5 
			 Banbridge 4.6 4.8 
			 Belfast 26.6 28.2 
			 Carrickfergus 4.2 4.4 
			 Castlereagh 5.7 6.0 
			 Coleraine 6.2 6.5 
			 Cookstown 2.5 2.7 
			 Craigavon 8.3 8.7 
			 Derry 10.2 7.0 
			 Down 6.6 3.7 
			 Dungannon 3.5 4.1 
			 Fermanagh 3.8 3.5 
			 Larne 3.3 3.0 
			 Limavady 2.8 10.6 
			 Lisburn 10.3 10.8 
			 Magherafelt 2.7 2.9 
			 Moyle 2.1 2.2 
			 Newry 8.3 8.7 
			 Newtownabbey 8.4 8.8 
			 North Down 9.1 9.6 
			 Omagh 4.4 4.6 
			 Strabane 2.9 3.0 
			 Total district rate 162.3 171.4 
			 Total regional rate 184.5 194.9 
			 Total domestic rate 346.8 366.3 
		
	
	(15) Estimate
	It is estimated that the proposed domestic regional rate for 2006–07 will raise £251.6 million in revenue. This estimate may change as a consequence of future updates to collection and valuation information.
	There is no estimate of revenue for the domestic district rate for 2006–07 as the level of district rates is determined by each of the 26 district councils, based on the relevant underlying cost forecasts for each council. This rate will be set in February 2006.

Empty Industrial Properties

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the number of empty industrial properties in each constituency in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: The Rate Collection Agency's records currently show a total of 399 "empty" properties as having been used for industrial purposes immediately prior to becoming vacant.
	Unfortunately the Agency is unable to provide numbers on a constituency basis, but has provided them within district council area in the following table:
	
		
			 District name Total 
		
		
			 Antrim 12 
			 Ards 36 
			 Armagh 11 
			 Ballymena 4 
			 Ballymoney 4 
			 Banbridge 6 
			 Belfast 76 
			 Carrickfergus 11 
			 Castlereagh 4 
			 Coleraine 5 
			 Cookstown 18 
			 Craigavon 41 
			 Down 9 
			 Dungannon and S. Tyrone 17 
			 Fermanagh 15 
			 Larne 11 
			 Limavady 2 
			 Lisburn 20 
			 Deny 11 
			 Magherafelt 15 
			 Moyle 0 
			 Newry and Mourne 24 
			 Newtownabbey 10 
			 North Down 7 
			 Omagh 21 
			 Strabane 9 
			 Total 399

Homosexual Civil Partnerships

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what (a) employment protection and (b) other provisions there are for (i) council staff and (ii) Registrar's Office staff with conscientious objections to homosexual civil partnerships.

Angela Smith: All council staff are protected by employment law. Registrars and other council staff appointed to register civil partnerships and carry out other related functions are provided with specific training which includes input from the Coalition of Sexual Orientation. It is the responsibility of the local registration authority to address any concerns individual staff might have, relating to same sex civil partnerships. The authority, however, must ensure that it fulfils its statutory responsibility of providing this service to the public.

Meat Exports

William McCrea: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what steps he has taken since becoming Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to promote the export of Ulster (a) pork, (b) lamb and (c) beef.

Angela Smith: EU state aid rules limit the extent to which public funds may be used to support export campaigns that promote domestically produced meat. Nevertheless, where possible, DARD is working actively to assist exporters, for example by the development of international marketing strategies under the Food Strategy "Fit for Market" initiative, facilitating state aid approvals for promotional activity carried out by the Livestock and Meat Commission. This includes a promotional campaign currently under way in the Netherlands to promote Northern Ireland lamb and a Beef Market Restoration Campaign which will commence in 2006, intended to address key issues relating to the restoration of beef obtained from cattle over-30-months (OTM) old at slaughter into the food chain, minimise the impact of OTM beef on the market and achieve early integration of this beef into the supply chain and export markets as soon as they reopen. Every effort is also being made to have the beef export ban lifted as soon as possible as this will provide a great stimulus for the industry. In addition the future sustainability of these sectors will depend on increased focus on customer requirements and the development of differentiated products that will enhance their ability to compete in global markets.

Armed Forces (Smoking)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what services are offered to service personnel to assist them in giving up smoking.

Don Touhig: The Ministry of Defence offers a range of advice and assistance to service personnel wishing to give up smoking. These are outlined in a Surgeon General's Policy Letter and incorporate the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommendations and guidelines. The levels of support for smoking cessation are:
	Brief Intervention
	This is tailored to individual needs and is designed to motivate smoking cessation. This can be provided by all health care professionals (i.e. medical and dental) and is carried out opportunistically.
	Intermediate Support
	This is provided within a local health care setting and is delivered by specially trained personnel.
	Specialist Smoking Cessation Clinics
	This level of support is for resistant but motivated smokers who have failed using other methods. This level of support is currently available through the NHS.
	A number of smoking cessation aids are currently available to personnel. These are:
	Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), available on prescription.
	Buproprion, available on prescription.
	Recommended aids are supported, such as health promotion leaflets,
	websites, help lines and national initiatives such as National No Smoking Day.

Defence Industry Inflation

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the difference was between defence industry inflation and inflation in each year since 1997.

Adam Ingram: The UK rate of inflation is published by HM Treasury on their website in the form of the GDP deflator. The deflator is usually expressed in terms of an index, i.e. a time series of index numbers. The following table provides data on the GDP deflator at market prices from 1996–97 to 2004–05:
	
		
			  Financial year GDP deflator at market prices 2004–05=100 Percentage change on previous year 
		
		
			 1996–97 82.687 3.53 
			 1997–98 85.132 2.96 
			 1998–99 87.341 2.59 
			 1999–2000 89.059 1.97 
			 2000–01 90.225 1.31 
			 2001–02 92.454 2.47 
			 2002–03 95.391 3.18 
			 2003–04 97.920 2.65 
			 2004–05 100.000 2.12 
		
	
	Source:
	HM Treasury
	Specific data relating to inflation in the UK defence industry is not compiled. However, output price indices relating to industrial products are published by the Office for National Statistics in "Producer Price Indices MM22", tables 2 and 4. Input price indices for aircraft and spacecraft, weapons and ammunition, instruments and appliances and electronic valve products are published by the Office for National Statistics in "Aerospace and Electronics MM19". Both publications cover products within the defence and civil sectors.

Freedom of Information

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to his Department passed to the FOI clearing house for evaluation, broken down by (a) subject and (b) date of request.

Alan Johnson: Information about the handling of Freedom of Information requests is published in "Freedom of Information Statistics on Implementation in Central Government". The most recently published report was 30 September 2005, copies were placed in the Libraries of the House. Additional information about the role of the Clearing House can be found on the DCA website at http://www.foi.gov.uk/guidance/index.htm2. Departments do not release information about the internal handling of requests, such as details of which requests were referred to the Clearing House for guidance.

Nuclear Fusion

Colin Challen: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much the Government has spent on nuclear fusion research and development over the last 10 years; and how much it plans to spend over the next 10 years.

Barry Gardiner: UK government expenditure on fusion research and development over the last 10 years is given below. The UK's indirect contribution to the European fusion programme via EU funding for the EURATOM Framework Programme is excluded from these statistics.
	In 2004, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) awarded £48 million over the four years to 2007–08 to the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) for fusion research. Funding for subsequent years will depend on the outcome of Spending Reviews and the quality of the science case proposals.
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 1995–96 15.7 
			 1996–97 12.1 
			 1997–98 16.6 
			 1998–99 12.6 
			 1999–00 14.3 
			 2000–01 17.0 
			 2001–02 14.4 
			 2002–03 14.6 
			 2003–04 15.6 
			 2004–05 19.5

Statutory Holiday Entitlements

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken to implement the exclusion of bank holidays from minimum statutory holiday entitlements for employees.

Gerry Sutcliffe: My rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry has taken a power in the recently introduced Work and Families Bill to enable us to put the Government's manifesto commitment to introduce "for the first time, an entitlement for every employee to four weeks' paid holiday, and we propose to extend this by making it additional to bank holiday entitlement" into effect. A full and extensive consultation with stakeholders, in line with better regulation principles, will be undertaken before any detailed changes are proposed in order to take full account of all the issues involved including the wide variety of flexible and non-standard working patterns that exist.

Departmental Salaries

Michael Penning: To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the 10 highest-paid employees in his Office, broken down by (a) job title and (b) salary including bonuses; and whether the individual concerned is (i) a civil servant and (ii) a contractor in each case.

Tony Blair: For these purposes my office forms part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (Jim Murphy) on 14 November 2005, Official Report, columns 963–64W.

Self-invested Personal Pensions

Tim Farron: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made on the likely impact on demand for second homes of the new self-invested personal pension scheme.

Des Browne: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander) on 10 November 2005, Official Report, column 456.

Rail Franchises

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what costs have been incurred in respect of the tendering process of the (a) Integrated Kent Franchise and (b) Greater Western Franchise; and what the estimated final costs are.

Derek Twigg: Costs for the two year tendering process are shown in the table below. The replacement of these will deliver significant benefits including a fleet of high speed trains operating on CTRL for the Integrated Kent Franchise.
	
		
			   £000 
			  To date Estimated final cost 
		
		
			 Greater Western 2,000 2,668 
			 Integrated Kent 3,990 4,290

Road Improvements/Maintenance

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding was allocated to maintenance of (a) motorways, (b) trunk roads and (c) other roads in receipt of central funding in the most recent three years for which figures are available.

Stephen Ladyman: Funds provided for maintaining the strategic road network do not differentiate between motorways and trunk roads. The Highways Agency accounts for the strategic road network on a renewals accounting basis, whereby all work to maintain the existing level of service is classified as resource while maintenance that improves the level of service is considered as capital investment. The figures for the three years to 2005–06 are:
	
		
			£ million 
			  2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 Capital 4 24 39 
			 Resource 744 706 826 
			 Total 748 730 865 
		
	
	Note:
	The resource figure for 2003–04 included £29 million for technology maintenance which in subsequent years is scored as capital.
	For other roads maintained by local highway authorities the Government provides funding in three ways. Funding for routine maintenance (grass cutting, gully clearing, sign cleaning, minor repairs, winter maintenance, street lighting, etc.) forms part of the Revenue Support Grant settlement. Capital funding is provided through the Local Transport Plan settlement for structural renewal work (resurfacing, overlay, bridge strengthening, etc.) PFI credits are provided for individual street lighting and highway maintenance schemes. With the exception of PFI credits and major capital maintenance schemes greater than £5 million, a local authority may spend maintenance funding, capital and revenue, as it wishes, on any service it provides. The figures for the three years to 2005–06 are:
	
		
			£ million 
			  2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 
		
		
			 Capital 610 659 661 
			 Major scheme 12 10 — 
			 PFI credits 790 — — 
			 Revenue 2,005 2,055 2,055 
			 Total 3,417 2,724 2,716 
		
	
	The information does not include capital funding for the maintenance of roads in London, which is a matter for the Mayor of London and the Greater London Assembly.

Surveillance Technology

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with the Home Office on the application of intelligent surveillance technology;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with Ispotek regarding the application of intelligent pedestrian video surveillance systems;
	(3)  what plans he has for expanded application of intelligent surveillance technology related to the transport network; and if he will make a statement.

Karen Buck: We keep the transport security measures we require under constant review. We are supporting the Home Office's initiative to evaluate "intelligent surveillance systems' for a range of applications including use on the transport network.
	Screening technologies are currently judged to offer greater potential. I refer the Hon Member to the statement of 3rd November on planned trials of screening equipment on the London Underground and National Rail network.

Surveillance Technology

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how much his Department has spent in each of the last five financial years on intelligent surveillance technology; and what the (a) value and (b) nature is of contracts awarded by his Department;
	(2)  if he will list trials which have taken place to date on the use of intelligent surveillance technology related to the transport network.

Karen Buck: DfT has not funded or carried out trials of intelligent surveillance systems on the transport network. To achieve best use of resources, the Department for Transport works in close partnership with other government bodies on counter terrorism science and technology. The Home Office in conjunction with the Security Service coordinate work on the development and evaluation of intelligent surveillance technologies for a wide range of applications. For example the Home Office's "Imagery Library of Intelligent Detection Systems' (i-LIDS) project is supporting developers by providing realistic training imagery and evaluating systems to assess their suitability for specific scenarios including transport security applications.

Train Journeys (Environmental Impact)

John Hemming: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the environmental impact of a journey between London and Birmingham by (a) an electric train, (b) a diesel train and (c) a car.

Derek Twigg: The following table compares total emissions of CO 2 , the main greenhouse gas, and NOx and PM 1 0 the two pollutants of most concern to local air quality, for representative electric and diesel trains and a car travelling between London and Birmingham. Two sets of figures are provided, one detailing the total emissions for the journey, the other detailing emissions per passenger journey assuming average vehicle loadings.
	
		
			  CO 2  (kg) NOx (g) PM 1  0  (g) 
		
		
			 Total journey emissions 
			 Electric train 2,020 4,320 129 
			 Diesel train 1,270 10,800 202 
			 Car 34.2 61.5 2.6 
			 
			 Emissions per passenger 
			 Electric train 5.9 12.5 0.4 
			 Diesel train 9.7 82.9 1.5 
			 Car 21.7 38.9 1.6

Contracts

Paul Burstow: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what guidance he has issued to public authorities on using contract terms to ensure that contractors comply with human rights legislation.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) published on 4 November a Guidance Note titled "Guidance on Contracting for Services in the light of the Human Rights Act 1998. This is accessible from the ODPM's website at http://odpm.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1161370.
	Recent conflicting legal decisions have left public authorities and contractors unsure whether or not the users of services contracted-out to non-public sector organisations are covered by the Human Rights Act 1998. The Guidance suggests that protection equivalent to that which would be offered by the Human Rights Act can be obtained by the procuring public authority specifying in the service contract the levels of performance required.
	The intended audience is local authorities, housing associations, organisations for older people and those with disabilities, and other government departments, but the guidance will be of relevance to all public contracting authorities. However, when acting on the Note, public authorities should take their own professional legal and procurement advice to ensure compliance with the Human Rights Act and public procurement law.

Freedom of Information

Roger Williams: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many Freedom of Information applications his Department has received; how many have taken more than 20 days to process; and how many of these gave rise to complaints about the time taken.

Jim Fitzpatrick: In the period from 1 January 2005 to 30 June 2005, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister received 575 Freedom of Information applications of which 173 took longer than 20 days to process. Of the latter number 27 were legitimately extended to allow for consideration of the public interest test, as allowed for in the Act. These figures can be calculated from table 2 of the Department for Constitutional Affairs' publications, "Freedom of Information Act 2000, Statistics on Implementation in Central Government, Ql January—March 2005 and Q2 April—June 2005".
	The Department for Constitutional Affairs is committed to publishing quarterly updates in relation to departmental performance under FOI, including information on both the volume and outcomes of requests. The bulletin for the second quarter was published on 30 September 2005 and can be found on the DCA website at http://www.foi.gov.uk/statsapr-jun05.htm and in the Libraries of both Houses. The next bulletin will be published before Christmas, whilst an annual report will be published in early 2006.
	Only three of the requests for information the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has received have given rise to complaints about delays in processing.

Housing

Margaret Moran: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) local authority stock and (b) private sector empty homes there were in Luton in each of the last five years.

Yvette Cooper: The total number of vacant dwellings by tenure in Luton for each of the last five years is tabled below:
	
		Number of empty homes in Luton
		
			  2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 
		
		
			 Local authority (LA) 108 84 106 95 165 
			 Registered Social Landlord (RSL) 46 44 44 58 54 
			 Other public 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Private sector (non-RSL) 2,302 2,063 1,942 1,994 1,800 
			 Total 2,456 2,191 2,092 2,147 2,019 
		
	
	Source:
	For years 2001 and 2002 all tenure figures above come from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix except for the RSL tenure type which comes from the Housing Corporation's Regulatory Statistical Return.
	For the years 2003 to 2005 the figures above are based on three sources: Total from ODPM's Council Tax Base 1 return; LA and "Other" public sector tenures from ODPM's Housing Strategy Statistical return; RSL tenure from Housing Corporation's Regulatory Statistical Return; and the private sector (non-RSL) is obtained by subtracting all these three separate tenure figures from the total.

Departmental Finance

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the real terms percentage increase in allocated resources for his Department (a) was for the period 1997–98 to 2004–05 and (b) is estimated to be between 2005–06 and 2007–08 (i) for each period and (ii) for each year.

Jack Straw: The real terms percentage increase in allocated resources for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is shown below:
	
		Real terms percentage incrase(18)(a) 1997–98 to 2004–05
		
			  1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Allocated Resource (£ million)(19) 1,144.4 1,131.0 1,209.2 1,274.6 1,439.6 1,657.7 1,708.4 1,797..3 
			 (i) Year on Year increase — — 4.8 4.1 10.2 11.6 0.4 3.0 
			 (ii) Increase for period 1997–98 to 2004–05 — — — — — — — 33.7 
		
	
	
		(b) 2005–06 to 2007–08
		
			  2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 
		
		
			 Allocated Resource (£ million)(20) 1,794.8 1,702.4 1,739.4 
			 (i) Year on year increase 0 0 0 
			 (ii) Increase for period 2005–06  to 2007–08 — — 0 
		
	
	(18) The figures have been deflated using the GDP deflators produced by HM Treasury on 28 September 2005, to calculate the real terms increases.
	(19) The "Allocated Resource" shown here is the final budget for the year approved by Parliament through the supply process, available in the House of Commons Library. Figures from 1997–98 to 2004–05 are not directly comparable because the basis of government accounting was changed in 2001–02 with the switch from cash accounting to resource accounting and budgeting. This overstates total resources in 2004–05 compared with 1997–98.
	(20) The "Allocated Resource" shown for 2005–06 is the Winter Supplementary Estimate which is currently being considered by Parliament. Figures for 2006–07 and 2007–08 are estimates based on the 2004 Spending Review outcome. 2006–07 and 2007–08 figures underestimate total FCO resources because they do not include the conflict prevention expenditure that is transferred between conflict prevention pool partners (FCO, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for International Development) annually. £247.9m of conflict prevention expenditure is included in 2005–06 compared to only £74m in 2006–07 and in 2007–08.

Foreign Decorations

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the criteria are for allowing (a) current and (b) former service personnel to (i) accept and (ii) wear medals offered by foreign governments in respect of past campaigns.

Jack Straw: holding answer 21 November 2005
	The criteria for considering whether foreign awards and decorations may be accepted and worn are contained in the Rules Governing the Accepting and Wearing of Foreign Orders, Decorations and Medals by Citizens of the United Kingdom and Her Overseas Territories. I set out as follows the Rules and will place copies in the Library of the House. In addition, the Committee on the Grant of Honours, Decorations and Medals is currently considering a paper from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office relating to a review of the rules.
	Rules governing the acceptance and wearing of Foreign Orders, Decorations and Medals by citizens of the United Kingdom and her overseas territories
	These rules set out the circumstances under which a citizen of the United Kingdom or her overseas territories ("UK citizen") may be granted The Sovereign's permission to accept and wear an Order, Decoration or Medal ("foreign award") conferred by a Head of State or Government of a foreign country. Head of Government of a Commonwealth country of which The Sovereign is not Head of State and certain international organisations (collectively referred to as "foreign state").
	Principles
	1. No UK citizen 1 may accept and wear a foreign award without the Sovereign's permission. Such permission must be sought as soon as there is an indication that an award may be offered.
	2. The granting of permission for a UK citizen to accept an award offered by a foreign state will only be considered if the award recognises specified services rendered to the interests of that foreign state.
	3. Permission will not be given for UK citizens to accept a foreign award if they have received, or are expected to receive, a UK award for the same services.
	4. Acceptance of a foreign award does not mean that the UK will make a reciprocal offer directly or indirectly associated with the UK recipient
	Permission
	5. Permission to wear a foreign award, if granted, will be either:
	unrestricted—allowing the award to be worn on any occasion, or
	restricted—allowing the award to be worn only on particular occasions associated with the foreign state that conferred it.
	6. The grant of permission, whether unrestricted or restricted, will be conveyed by letter to the UK citizen concerned from the Sovereign's Private Secretary.
	Application
	7. A foreign state wishing to confer an award on a UK citizen is expected to ascertain—through its Diplomatic Representative at The Court of St. James's—whether permission to accept an award would be likely to be given. Such requests for clearance will only be entertained in respect of awards given by Heads of State or Governments recognised as such by the Sovereign.
	8. Requests made by certain international organisations (e.g. the United Nations and NATO) in respect of service in operations under their auspices should be made to the Defence Services Secretary in the Ministry of Defence.
	9. Requests made in respect of services rendered more than five years previously, or in connection with events in the distant past (e.g. commemorative awards), will not be entertained.
	10. Requests for clearance meeting the requirement of these regulations will be submitted to The Sovereign for consideration by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs—who will be under no obligation to make such a submission if the application has not been made as indicated in paragraphs 7 and 8 above.
	11. Requests for clearance in the case of foreign awards conferred by private societies or institutions will not be granted.
	Guidelines
	12. Each request will be treated on a case by case basis. The fact that a similar application has been approved in the past should not be taken as implying that permission will be granted.
	13. The grant of unrestricted permission will be considered in the case of foreign awards conferred for services:
	related to the saving or attempting to save life 2 ;
	by any member of the UK Armed Forces or other UK official on exchange, attachment or loan to a foreign state who is involved in a military operation or an emergency 3 on behalf of that country, state or organisation;
	by any member of the UK Armed Forces serving in a UK Unit within a bi-lateral force under the command of the other country who renders especial service to the country's forces in a military operation or emergency; or
	in military operations under the auspices of an international organisation (e.g. the United Nations).
	14. The grant of restricted permission will be considered in the case of foreign awards conferred:
	on the occasion of and in connection with a State or official visit by a Head of State or Government of a foreign or Commonwealth country;
	in connection with a State visit by the Sovereign; or
	to members of Special Missions when The Sovereign is represented at a coronation, wedding or funeral or other similar occasion: or on any Diplomatic Representative when specially accredited to represent The Sovereign on such occasions.
	15. Other than in circumstances described in paragraphs 13 and 14 above, permission, unrestricted or restricted, will not be granted to 5 :
	Crown servants generally,
	in particular, to Heads or other members of HM Diplomatic or Consular establishments abroad when leaving their posts—whether on transfer or on final retirement; and
	senior officials, military and civilian, visiting foreign states.
	16. No permission is needed for the acceptance of any foreign award if it is designed not to be worn.
	1 This includes British subjects and British-protected persons (BPPs). BPPs may accept awards conferred by their Rulers.
	2 Including medals issued by life saving societies and institutions (but these must be worn on the right breast).
	3 It will be for the UK to decide if the operations or emergency is of the standard to fall within this criterion.
	4 This does not apply to his or her staff.
	5 This guidance normally applies equally to the spouses or partners of Crown servants.

Child Support Agency

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the Child Support Agency's caseload has been for each quarter of each year from 1997 to the third quarter of 2005; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Stephen Geraghty to Mr. David Laws, dated 24 November 2005
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the Child Support Agency's caseload has been for each quarter of each year from 1997 to the third quarter of 2005.
	The Child Support Agency caseload figures are detailed in the table below (Quarterly April 1997 to date):
	
		
			  Old scheme New scheme Total 
		
		
			 June 1997 799,000 — 799,000 
			 September 1997 821,000 — 821,000 
			 December 1997 834,000 — 834,000 
			 March 1998 893,000 — 893,000 
			 June 1998 878,000 — 878,000 
			 September 1998 923,000 — 923,000 
			 December 1998 917,000 — 917,000 
			 March 1999 947,000 — 947,000 
			 June 1999 1,290,000 — 1,290,000 
			 September 1999 1,319,000 — 1,319,000 
			 December 1999 1,320,000 — 1,320,000 
			 March 2000 1,323,000 — 1,323,000 
			 June 2000 1,339,000 — 1,339,000 
			 September 2000 1,338,000 — 1,338,000 
			 December 2000 1,339,000 — 1,339,000 
			 March 2001 1,345,000 — 1,345,000 
			 June 2001 1,350,000 — 1,350,000 
			 September 2001 1,367,000 — 1,367,000 
			 December 2001 1,361,000 — 1,361,000 
			 March 2002 1,353,000 — 1,353,000 
			 June 2002 1,354,000 — 1,354,000 
			 September 2002 1,349,000 — 1,349,000 
			 December 2002 1,349,000 — 1,349,000 
			 March 2003 1,230,000 — 1,230,000 
			 June 2003 — — — 
			 September 2003 — — — 
			 December 2003 — — — 
			 March 2004 — — — 
			 June 2004 — — — 
			 September 2004 — — — 
			 December 2004 — — — 
			 March 2005 965,000 452,000 1,417,000 
			 June 2005 951,000 481,000 1,432,000 
			 September 2005 938,000 511,000 1,449,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Caseload is defined as the number of cases that are "open" and at any stage in the process.
	2. There is currently no robust management information relating to new scheme cases and old scheme cases operating on the new computer system for the years 2003 and 2004.
	3. There are currently 15,000 cases being administered clerically (September 2005). It is not possible to say if these cases are included in the above figures.
	4. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 1,000.
	I hope you find this helpful.

Disability Living Allowance

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many recipients there are of (a) the higher rate of the mobility component, (b) the medium rate of the care component and (c) the higher rate of the care component of disability living allowance, broken down by region;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of people who qualify for but do not receive (a) the higher rate of the mobility component, (b) the medium rate of the care component and (c) the higher rate of the care component of disability living allowance, broken down by region.

Anne McGuire: The requested information about the numbers of people receiving the higher rate of the mobility component the middle rate of the care component and the highest rate of the care component of disability living allowance is in the following table. Currently it is not possible to estimate take-up rates for the allowance. Following a recommendation in "Meeting DWP's long-term information needs on disability: a feasibility report", (DWP Research report number 267, a copy of which is available in the Library) the Department is commissioning research to test two possible approaches to establish whether it is possible to estimate take-up rates. The results of this research will be available in 2007.
	
		Disability living allowance: numbers of recipients of (a) the higher rate mobility component; (b) the highest rate care component; and (c) the middle rate care component in Great Britain at 31 May 2005 by Government office region
		
			 Government office region Higher rate mobility component Highest rate care component Middle rate care component 
		
		
			 North East 102.2 34.1 44.8 
			 North West 273.0 95.4 135.6 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 168.0 57.9 77.6 
			 East Midlands 118.1 44.2 60.9 
			 West Midlands 158.2 59.8 80.9 
			 East of England 106.6 46.6 69.9 
			 London 391.1 67.9 98.1 
			 South East 132.3 59.8 91.7 
			 South West 108.5 41.1 70.2 
			 Wales 150.3 53.2 58.5 
			 Scotland 183.9 72.1 100.2 
			 Unknown 1.6 0.5 0.8 
			 Total 1,641.9 632.7 889.2 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are in thousands, rounded to the nearest hundred, and exclude cases where payment of the allowance is suspended; for example, because the recipient has been a NHS hospital in-patient for more than four weeks. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	2. Postcodes are used to allocate recipients to the relevant Government office region. The figures shown against "Unknown" are those for cases where the postcode is incomplete.
	Source:
	DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.

Housing Allowances/Benefits

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young housing benefit recipients have been subject to the single room rent restriction in each year since its introduction.

James Plaskitt: The information is in the following table.
	
		Housing benefit recipients subject to single room rent (SRR) restriction in Great Britain
		
			 May Number 
		
		
			 1997 31,600 
			 1998 33,200 
			 1999 24,800 
			 2000 17,900 
			 2001 14,400 
			 2002 11,000 
			 2003 10,700 
			 2004 11,000 
			 2005 12,000 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.
	2. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.
	3. Housing benefit figures exclude any extended payment cases.
	4. The SRR was introduced in October 1996.
	Source:
	Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in May 1997 to May 2005.

Pathways to Work

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the exit figures were from (a) incapacity benefit and (b) severe disability allowance for each quarter in each Pathways to Work pilot area since their commencement.

Anne McGuire: holding answer 10 November 2005
	The available information is in the table.
	
		IB/SDA terminations by Pathways to work area
		
			  November 2003 February 2004 May 2004 August 2004 November 2004 February 2005 May 2005 
		
		
			 Bridgend 2.0 2.0 2.7 2.2 2.3 2.3 1.3 
			 Derbyshire 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.3 3.1 2.9 2.5 
			 East Lancashire 2.1 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.2 2.1 1.6 
			 Essex 3.3 3.6 3.9 4.4 3.7 4.1 2.5 
			 Gateshead and South Tyneside 2.0 1.8 2.0 1.8 2.1 2.2 1.7 
			 Renfrewshire 2.3 2.1 2.4 2.6 2.2 2.3 2.0 
			 Somerset 1.0 1.0 1.3 1.0 0.7 0.9 0.8 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred and are expressed in thousands.
	2. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	3. Numbers are based on a 5 per cent. sample, and are therefore subject to a degree of sampling variation.
	4. Local authorities and Pathways areas are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory.
	5. Pathways to Work pilot areas were introduced from October 2003 (Bridgend, Renfrewshire and Derbyshire) and extended in April 2004 (Gateshead and South Tyneside, Somerset, Essex and East Lancashire). The termination figures cover quarters ending each February, May, August and November, even where Pathways areas were introduced part way through these quarters.
	6. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters.
	7. Earlier quarters have been updated to include late notified terminations, including terminations for state pension.
	Source:
	Information Directorate 5 per cent. sample.

Pensioners

Malcolm Rifkind: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the number of single women pensioners living in poverty.

Stephen Timms: The seventh annual "Opportunity for all" report (Cm 6673) sets out the Government's strategy for tackling poverty and social exclusion and reports progress against a range of indicators.
	The following table shows the number and percentage of single women over state pension age living in households in relative and absolute low income. They show that in 2003–04 there were 700,000 single women pensioners living in households in relative low income, measured after housing costs—the number in relative low income has fallen by almost a half since 1996–97.
	
		Relative low income, i.e. based on contemporary income thresholds
		
			  1996–97 2003–04 
		
		
			 After housing costs   
			 Number (million) 1.2 0.7 
			 Percentage 37 21 
			 Before housing costs   
			 Number (million) 0.9 0.8 
			 Percentage 26 24 
		
	
	
		Absolute low income, i.e. based on 1996–97 income thresholds held constant in real terms
		
			  1996–97 2003–04 
		
		
			 After housing costs   
			 Number (million) 1.2 0.3 
			 Percentage 37 11 
			 Before housing costs   
			 Number (million) 0.9 0.4 
			 Percentage 26 13 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Figures are for Great Britain.
	2. Data are from the Family Resources Survey based on HBAI methodology.

Advisory Non-departmental Bodies

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if she will list those of her Department's advisory non-departmental public bodies which the Government are required (a) to consult prior to legislative proposals and (b) to publish their response to advice from;
	(2)  which of the advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by her Department have a statutory base; which (a) publish their advice to Government, (b) publish an annual report and (c) lay an annual report before Parliament; and whether it is under a statutory requirement in each instance;
	(3)  which of the advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by her Department (a) hold public meetings, (b) conduct public consultation exercises, (c) conduct consultation exercises with outside commercial interests, (d) publish a register of members' interests, (e) publish agendas for meetings and (f) publish the minutes of meetings; and whether it is under a statutory requirement in each case.

Jane Kennedy: The information requested on the Department's advisory non-departmental public bodies, which the Government are required to consult prior to legislative and to publish their response to advice from is shown in the table.
	The Government are required to:
	
		
			 Name of ANDPB (a) consult these advisory non- departmental public bodies (ANDPBs) prior to legislative proposals  (b) publish their response to advice from these ANDPBs 
		
		
			 Herbal Medicines Advisory Committee (HMAC) Not specifically(21) No 
			 Nursing and Other Health Professions Review Body No Yes 
			 Patient Information Advisory Group Yes(22) No 
			 Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration No Yes 
		
	
	(21) There are certain legislative requirements to consult the appropriate committee, and in some circumstances this is likely to be the HMAC. However, there is no explicit requirement to consult HMAC.
	2 This is the case only in respect of section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001.
	The information requested on which advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by the Department that have a statutory base; which publish their advice to Government, publish an annual report and lay an annual report before Parliament is shown in the table.
	The advisory non-departmental public bodies (ANDPBs) all have a statutory base and publish their advice to Government, publish an annual report and lay an annual report before Parliament as shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Name of ANDPB (a) Publish their advice to Government If so whether under a statutory requirement (b) Publish an annual report If so whether under a statutory requirement (c) Lay an annual report before Parliament If so whether under a statutory requirement 
		
		
			 Administration of Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee No No No No No No 
			 British Pharmacopoeia Commission (BPC) No No(22) Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 Gene Therapy Advisory Committee No No Yes Yes No No 
			 Herbal Medicines Advisory Committee No(23) No Yes(24) Yes Yes(24) Yes 
			 Independent Review Panel for Borderline Substances No No Yes No Yes No 
			 Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation No No(22) Yes No No No 
			 Medicines Commission (will be abolished on 30 October 2005) Yes No Yes No Yes Yes 
			 National Joint Registry Steering Committee No No Yes No No No 
			 Patient Information Advisory Group Yes No Yes No No No 
			 The Advisory Board on the Registration of Homeopathic Products No No Yes Yes Yes Yes 
			 UK Xenotransplantation Interim Regulatory Authority No No No No No No 
			 Unrelated Live Transplant Regulatory Authority No No No No No No 
		
	
	(22) The statutory role of the BPC is to cause to be published the British Pharmacopoeia. This is not published for Government but for sale to the public and industry.
	2 This has not specifically been decided yet, and the answer provided is based on precedent with other advisory committees.
	3 The Herbal Medicines Advisory Committee Order establishing HMAC came into force on 30 October 2005. The answer provided refers to planned future activity.
	Note:
	ANDPBs may have a statutory base either by provision being made for their existence in law, or by the law putting an obligation on the Secretary of State which is then partly undertaken by an ANDPB set up by the Secretary of State for the purpose.
	The information requested on advisory non-departmental public bodies that hold public meetings, conduct public consultation exercise, conduct consultation exercises with outside commercial interests, publish a register of members' interests, publish agendas for meetings and publish the minutes of meetings is shown in the table. The following advisory non-departmental public bodies (ANDPBs):
	
		
			 Name of ANDPB (a) Hold public meetings Whether under a statutory requirement (b) Conduct public consultation exercises Whether under a statutory requirement (c) Publish a register of members' interests Whether under a statutory requirement 
		
		
			 Administration of Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee No No No No No No 
			 Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances No No No No No No 
			 Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards No No No No No No 
			 Advisory Group on Hepatitis No No No No No No 
			 Committee for Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment No No No No No No 
			 Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment Yes No Yes No Yes No 
			 Committee on Mutagenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment Yes No Yes No Yes No 
			 Committee on Safety of Devices No No No No No No 
			 Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants No No Yes No Yes No 
			 Expert Advisory Group on Aids No No No No No No 
			 Gene Therapy Advisory Committee Yes No No No No No 
			 Genetics and Insurance Committee Yes No No No No No 
			 Herbal Medicines Advisory Committee (24)— No (24)— No (24)— No 
			 Human Genetics Commission Yes No Yes No Yes No 
			 Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) No No No No No No 
			 Independent Review Panel for Advertising No No No No No No 
			 Independent Review Panel for Borderline Substances No No No No No No 
			 Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation No No No No No No 
			 Medicines Commission (will be abolished on 30 October 2005) No No No No No No 
			 National Joint Registry Steering Committee No No(27) No No No No 
			 Nursing and Other Health Professions Review Body No No No No No No 
			 Patient Information Advisory Group No No Yes No No No 
			 Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration No No No No No No 
			 Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition Yes No Yes No Yes — 
			 Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health(23) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Sexual Health Independent Advisory Group No No No No No No 
			 Specialist Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance No No No No No No 
			 Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee Yes No No No No No 
			 Standing Dental Advisory Committee No No No No Yes No 
			 Steering Committee on Pharmacy Postgraduate Education(23) n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 The Advisory Board on the Registration of Homeopathic Products No No No No No No 
			 UK Xenotransplantation Interim Regulatory Authority No No No No No No 
			 Unrelated Live Transplant Regulatory Authority No No No No No No 
		
	
	
		
			 Name of ANDPB (d) Publish a register of members' interests Whether under a statutory requirement (e) Publish agendas for meetings Whether under a statutory requirement 
		
		
			 Administration of Radioactive Substances Advisory Committee Yes No No No 
			 Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances No No No No 
			 Advisory Committee on Clinical Excellence Awards No No No No 
			 Advisory Group on Hepatitis Yes No Yes No 
			 Committee for Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment Yes No No No 
			 Committee on Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment Yes No Yes No 
			 Committee on Mutagenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment Yes No Yes No 
			 Committee on Safety of Devices Yes No Yes No 
			 Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants Yes No Yes No 
			 Expert Advisory Group on Aids Yes No Yes No 
			 Gene Therapy Advisory Committee Yes No Yes No 
			 Genetics and Insurance Committee Yes No Yes No 
			 Herbal Medicines Advisory Committee Yes(25) No No(26) No 
			 Human Genetics Commission Yes No Yes No 
			 Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) Yes No No No(29) 
			 Independent Review Panel for Advertising Yes No No No 
			 Independent Review Panel for Borderline Substances Yes No No No 
			 Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation Yes No Yes No 
			 Medicines Commission (will be abolished on 30 October 2005) Yes No No No 
			 National Joint Registry Steering Committee No No(28) Yes No 
			 Nursing and Other Health Professions Review Body Yes No No No 
			 Patient Information Advisory Group Yes No Yes No 
			 Review Body on Doctors' and Dentists' Remuneration Yes No No No 
			 Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition Yes No Yes No 
			 Scientific Committee on Tobacco and Health(23) n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 Sexual Health Independent Advisory Group Yes No No No 
			 Specialist Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance No No Yes No 
			 Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee Yes No Yes No 
			 Standing Dental Advisory Committee No No No No 
			 Steering Committee on Pharmacy Postgraduate Education(23) n/a n/a n/a n/a 
			 The Advisory Board on the Registration of Homeopathic Products Yes No No No 
			 UK Xenotransplantation Interim Regulatory Authority Yes No Yes No 
			 Unrelated Live Transplant Regulatory Authority Yes No Yes No 
		
	
	n/a = Not available.
	(23) These bodies are under review and not active. They have no memberships.
	2 This has not yet been decided.
	3 The Herbal Medicines Advisory Committee Order establishing the HMAC came into force on 30 October 2005. The answer provided refers to planned future activity.
	4 This has not specifically been decided yet, and the answer provided is based on precedent with other advisory committees.
	5 The NJRSC will hold such meetings in future.
	6 The NJRSC will publish such a register in future.
	7 The IRP intends to introduce these measures next year.

Ashford and St. Peter's NHS Trust

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the financial performance of Ashford St Peters' NHS trust over the last five years for which figures are available, with particular reference to the requirement for NHS trusts to break even over a five year period.

Caroline Flint: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		Final audited position for Ashford St. Peters' national health service trust for the period 2000–01 to 2004–05. £000
		
			  Surplus/(deficit) 
		
		
			 2000–01 -4,846 
			 2001–02 -1,409 
			 2002–03 -1,328 
			 2003–04 5 
			 2004–05 61

Community Hospitals

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the oral statement by the Minister of State for Health Services on 2nd November, on earmarked funding for community hospitals, which community hospitals have so far benefited from the funding; how the funding is being allocated; and how much of the funding has been allocated so far.

Liam Byrne: The Government's commitment to community hospitals will be progressed through developing a clear vision of the community hospital of the 21st century, and £100 million of public capital funding will be invested to support implementation.
	Officials are currently undertaking detailed scoping work to consider the range of services that a modern community hospital could offer and the outcomes of the "Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" consultation will feed into this. The future direction of policy on community hospitals is likely to be indicated in the forthcoming White Paper on health and social care.

Community Hospitals

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what assessment she has made of the contribution of community hospitals in the delivery of health care in each strategic health authority area; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  whether the £100 million investment in community hospitals, announced earlier in the year, will be provided exclusively as capital funding; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  how many community hospitals will be built with the £100 million investment announced earlier in the year; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The Government have identified an initial public capital investment of £100 million to build, rebuild, or refurbish 50 community hospitals. Officials are currently undertaking detailed scoping work to set out the vision of the modern community hospital and the outcomes of the "Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" consultation will feed into this. Until this work is completed, it is not possible to estimate how many community hospitals will be built. The future direction of policy on community hospitals is likely to be indicated in the forthcoming White Paper on health and social care.

Continuing Care

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether individuals who are deemed eligible for high band nursing care are automatically eligible for NHS continuing care.

Liam Byrne: No. An assessment of needs will establish eligibility for nursing care, and at what level. If that assessment establishes that the individual meets the criteria for continuing care, then that will be put in place instead.

Dacorum Primary Care Trust

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether representations from members of the public to her Department concerning proposals to alter healthcare provision by (a) West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust and (b) Dacorum Primary Care Trust will be considered as part of the Your Health, Your Care, Your Say consultation exercise.

Rosie Winterton: Representations from members of the public concerning proposals to alter healthcare provision were not considered as part of the Your Health, Your Care, Your Say consultation as the reconfiguration of services at the West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust and Dacorum Primary Care Trust were included in a local consultation known as "Investing in Your Health" which ran from March to June 2003.

Departmental Assets

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the 10 most valuable (a) movable and (b) immovable assets owned by her Department.

Liam Byrne: The following is the list of the top 10 moveable and top 10 immoveable fixed assets in the books of the Department. The amounts are stated at net current value as at 31 October 2005.
	
		Most valuable moveable and immovable assets owned by Department of Health
		
			 Description of asset £ 
		
		
			 Immoveable fixed assets  
			 Land Warneford Hospital 30,900,000 
			 Whittingham Hospital 27,900,000 
			 Leybourne Grange Hospital 25,000,000 
			 Richmond House Building 19,467,914 
			 Cane Hill Hospital 15,000,000 
			 High Royds Hospital 15,000,000 
			 Killingbeck Hospital 15,000,000 
			 Richmond House Land 13,438,082 
			 Male Homes Site (St. Margarets) 11,000,000 
			 Yardley Green Hospital 10,912,913 
			   
			 Moveable fixed assets  
			 Software Licences from Microsoft 75,583,418 
			 Local Service Provider North West 57,310,442 
			 Spine Project-the core NHS Care Records Service to ensure highly available and highly resilient live Systems delivered in several phases 44,835,458 
			 Spine Project-the core NHS Care Records Service to ensure highly available and highly resilient live Systems delivered in several phases 21,250,000 
			 Software licences—Oracle—National Programme For Information Technology 21,197,152 
			 Spine Project—the core NHS Care Records Service to ensure highly available and highly resilient live Systems delivered in several phases 20,887,632 
			 Electronic staff records 2004–05 18,200,000 
			 National software licences from Microsoft 17,290,037 
			 Skipton House fit out enhancement carpets, blinds, signage, catering/servery equipment 3,650,258 
			 1,300 personal computers (PCs), monitors installation- periodical refresh of PCs in Quarry House 2,522,930 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Immoveable assets are land and buildings and any plant and machinery that form an integral part of the land and buildings (such as central heating and air conditioning systems, for example).
	2. Moveable assets are any asset that is not an immoveable asset.
	Source:
	Department of Health Fixed Asset Register

Diabetes

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence will consider the findings of the Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee prior to issuing guidance in relation to the long-acting insulin analogue Lantus.

Jane Kennedy: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) published a technology appraisal, "Guidance on the use of long-acting insulin analogues for the treatment of diabetes—insulin glargine" in December 2002. NICE are due to begin reviewing the guidance shortly, and will take account of all available evidence, including international evidence.

Drug Addicts (West Lancashire)

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many addicts were prescribed diamorphine in West Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally. However, information on the number of prescriptions issued for diamorphine since 2001 is shown in the table.
	
		Number of prescriptions issued for diamorphine, 2001–04
		
			  Number of prescriptions 
		
		
			 2001 338 
			 2002 318 
			 2003 195 
			 2004 263 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. It is not known how many of theses prescriptions were for addicts nor how many patients these items correspond to.
	2. Records for prescriptions for addicts issued under the Misuse of Drugs Act on Form FP10 (MDA) indicate that only one has been issued in West Lancashire Primary Care Trust, in 2004.

Emergency Services

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average ambulance response time in attending 999 calls in (a) East Anglia and (b) England has been in each year since 1997.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is not centrally collected in the required format.
	The data that the Department collects on ambulance response times for the East Anglian Ambulance Service and for all ambulance services in England is shown in the table. It is only possible to provide this data from the point at which each ambulance trust introduced call prioritisation.
	Further relevant information can be found in tables 5a, 5b, 6 and 7 of the statistical bulletin, "Ambulance services, England: 2004–05", which is available in the Library and on Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/36/79/04113679.pdf
	
		Ambulance response times in East Anglia and England 2000–01 to 2004–05
		
			 Percentage of category A calls responded within:  East Anglian  England 
		
		
			 8 minutes   
			 2000–01 53.0 n/a 
			 2001–02 63.8 70.8 
			 2002–03 75.2 74.6 
			 2003–04 76.1 75.7 
			 2004–05 76.5 76.2 
			
			 14/19 minutes   
			 2000–01 95.7 n/a 
			 2001–02 95.7 94.1 
			 2002–03 96.9 94.6 
			 2003–04 96.6 93.9 
			 2004–05 96.2 96.0 
		
	
	n/a = Data not available, as call prioritisation technology not introduced.

Foreign Travel Vaccinations

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners per head of population there have been in West Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		General Medical Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)(24) per 100,000 head of population for Cumbria and Lancashire SHA and West Lancashire PCT, 1999–2004 Number (headcount)
		
			  1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Q13—Cumbria and Lancashire   
			 All Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)(24) 1,106 1,105 1,118 1,145 1,169 1,168 
			 Population 1,899,003 1,901,743 1,905,060 1,910,378 1,919,041 1,929,653 
			 All Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)(24)per 100,000 head of population 58.2 58.1 58.7 59.9 60.9 60.5 
			 Of which:   
			 5f3—West Lancashire PCT   
			 All Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)(24) n/a n/a 58 61 61 60 
			 Population(25) n/a n/a 108,480 108,718 108,994 n/a 
			 All Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)(24)per 100,000 head of population n/a n/a 53.5 56.1 56.0 n/a 
		
	
	n/a = Data not applicable.
	(24) General Medical Practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars) includes Contracted GPs , GMS Others and PMS Others. Prior to September 2004 this group included GMS Unrestricted Principals, PMS Contracted GPs, PMS Salaried GPs, Restricted Principals, Assistants, Salaried Doctors (Para 52 SFA), PMS Other, Flexible Career Scheme GPs and GP Returners.
	(25) Population data for 2004 PCTs will not be available until November 2005.
	Note:
	Data as at 1 October 1999 and 30 September 2000–04
	Sources:
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre General and Personal Medical Services Statistics
	2001 ONS Population Census

Health Service Reconfiguration

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list each of the requests that she has received for contested health service reconfigurations to be referred to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel since the IRP was created; and whether the request (a) was accepted, (b) was registered and (c) is awaiting decision in each case.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 11 November 2005
	As at 10 November 2005, there have been eight referrals to the Secretary of State which is shown in the table. The overview and scrutiny committee right of referral is to the Secretary of State who may choose to seek advice from the independent reconfiguration panel (IRP). Since its establishment, the IRP has provided formal advice to the Secretary of State on one case—in East Kent. Of the seven referrals subsequently received, three were determined by Secretary of State without recourse to the IRP, three are pending a decision, and in one case the proposals were withdrawn by the primary care trust.
	
		Referrals to the Secretary of State seeking advice from the IRP
		
			  Location Referred by Date of referral Outcome 
		
		
			 1 East Kent (Margate/Canterbury/Ashford) South East Kent CMC Canterbury and Thanet CMC April 2002 Secretary of State's decision to refer to IRP 
			 2 Wiltshire (Kennet and North Wiltshire) Wiltshire county council HOSC October 2004 Proposals withdrawn by PCT in favour of wide-ranging review of community services 
			 3 Fareham and Gosport (Hants) Hampshire county council HOSC January 2005 Secretary of State's decision to uphold NHS decision without referral to IRP 
			 4 South West London (Sutton/Epsom/  St. Helier) London borough of Merton HOSC March 2005 Secretary of State's decision pending 
			 5 Bristol (Southmead/Frenchay) South Gloucestershire HOSC July 2005 Secretary of State's decision to uphold NHS decision without referral to IRP 
			 6 Wirral (Wirral and Wallasey) Wirral Metropolitan borough council HOSC July 2005 Secretary of State's decision to uphold NHS decision without referral to IRP 
			 7 Lincolnshire (cross county) HOSC for Lincolnshire July 2005 Secretary of State's decision pending 
			 8 Surrey (Guildford and Waverley) Surrey county council HOSC October 2005 Secretary of State's decision pending

Health Trust Guidance

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance she has issued to health trusts on the priority they should give to (a) reducing financial deficits and (b) meeting clinical targets.

Liam Byrne: National health service organisations are required to deliver both their statutory financial duties and those national targets that apply to that organisation.
	NHS trusts have a statutory duty to break even. This requires them to match income and expenditure over a three-year period, exceptionally this can be extended to a five-year period.
	Primary care trusts have a statutory duty to live within the resources allocated to them. They are required to achieve financial balance each and every year.
	"National Standards, Local Action", published in July 2004 and available in the Library and on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk, sets out what is expected of national health service and social care organisations for the three financial years 2005–06 to 2007–08 in terms of national priorities and health care standards.

HIV/AIDS

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the size of the AIDS support grant has been in each year since it was established; and what her policy is on the AIDS support grant.

Caroline Flint: The size of the AIDS support grant in each year since its introduction is shown in the following table. The AIDS support grant continues to be an effective tool in assisting local authority HIV social care provision to those living with the virus, their partners and families.
	
		Aids support grant 1989–90 to 2005–06 £ million
		
			  AIDS support grant amount 
		
		
			 1989–90 7.0 
			 1990–91 9.8 
			 1991–92 10.2 
			 1992–93 15.3 
			 1993–94 12.4 
			 1994–95 12.9 
			 1995–96 13.4 
			 1996–97 13.7 
			 1997–98 13.7 
			 1998–99 13.7 
			 1999–2000 15.5 
			 2000–01 16.0 
			 2001–02 16.5 
			 2002–03 16.5 
			 2003–04 16.5 
			 2004–05 16.5 
			 2005–06 16.5

Hospitals

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been granted from (a) her Department and (b) NHS budgets to procure artworks for hospitals in 2005–06.

Jane Kennedy: The Department has made grants to two organisations:
	to the Kings Fund for its programme, "Enhancing the Healing Environment" where two grants have been made, totalling £940,000:
	NHS Estates Agency—£250,000
	National Director for Mental Health—£690,000.
	There has been Section 64 funding in 2005–06 to the Charity Paintings in Hospital. This funding was made to support the charity's general running costs. A further grant of £2,500 was made to the same charity by the then NHS Estates Agency to fund work on the charity's website. A key part of the charity's work is their loan scheme by which they loan works of art to hospitals, hospices and general practitioner surgeries.
	The purpose of these charitable organisations is to improve the environment in which patients are treated. None of these grants were made for the specific purpose of procuring artwork.
	National health service trusts provide information annually to the Department on the amount they spend on artwork. This information is provided on a voluntary basis and the figures for that spend in 2005–06 are not yet available.

Influenza

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether her Department plans for information and advice to be distributed to the public in the event of an influenza pandemic via (a) leaflets to be posted to households and (b) direct advertisements to the public.

Rosie Winterton: Full details of the communication strategy in the event of an influenza pandemic is included in annex I of "The UK Influenza Pandemic Contingency Plan".

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what recent representations she has received from sufferers of multiple chemical sensitivity; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what guidance she has issued to general practitioners in the diagnosis of multiple chemical sensitivity;
	(3)  what recent discussions she has had with healthcare professionals on the treatment of multiple chemical sensitivity;
	(4)  how many people in the West Yorkshire area have been diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivity since 1990.

Liam Byrne: I am not aware of having received any representations from people alleging that they sufferer from multiple chemical sensitivity.
	The Department has not issued guidance to, or had discussions with, healthcare professionals on this. The national health service provides a range of services for people suffering from allergies based on an individual assessment of need. This includes, for those with complex cases requiring special facilities for the investigation and management of their condition, six specialist centres run by allergists.
	The Department does not collect data on people diagnosed with multiple chemical sensitivity.

NHS Finance

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total wage bill has been in the NHS in each year since 1997 (a) in total and (b) broken down by staff group in (i) nominal and (ii) real terms; and what proportion of the overall NHS budget this represented in each year.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is shown in the tables.
	
		Table 1: Absolute and proportion of National Health Service expenditure on staff and pay (nominal) £ millions
		
			  Data source 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Total NHS DEL(26) DR2005 3.1 32,997 34,664 36,608 41,241 44,881 52,469 56,083 63,000 
			   
			 Pay bill: Trusts, PCTs and SHAs DH Accounts: Table 7.9   
			 General and senior managers  867 912 952 1,055 1,187 1,331 1,571 1,777 
			 Medics  2,654 2,848 3,122 3,464 3,896 4,473 5,038 6,023 
			 Dentists  83 85 85 94 100 115 123 119 
			 Nurses  6,294 6,415 6,710 7,330 7,902 8,825 9,643 10,371 
			 Profession allied to medicine  843 873 928 1,022 1,116 1,246 1,356 1,479 
			 Professional and scientific  567 593 623 687 757 852 932 1,037 
			 Professional and technical  458 482 528 568 631 704 796 893 
			 Other scientific, therapeutic and technical  82 82 93 102 111 116 115 129 
			 Admin and clerical  1,733 1,766 1,865 1,989 2,161 2,444 2,724 3,000 
			 Maintenance  244 228 229 231 235 240 239 237 
			 Ambulance  325 333 355 364 395 433 478 524 
			 Health care assistants  922 947 962 1,013 1,047 1,113 1,182 1,251 
			 All other staff  33 31 22 27 44 55 130 125 
			 Non-NHS staff  451 480 586 730 912 1,189 1,462 1,446 
			 Chairmen  25 24 22 33 34 72 125 147 
			 Miscellaneous DH Wall 36, Wall 26   
			 Department admin (current)  (27)270 (27)270 271 270 291 314 336 329 
			 Centrally held managed services current (excluding EEA medical costs)  (27)120 (27)140 (27)210 314 313 414 313 632 
			 Family health services gross expenditure (cash and resource) England DR Table 6. 10   
			 Total general medical services and personal medical services  2,873 3,033 3,158 3,420 3,734 3,919 4,084 4,623 
			 General dental services  1,325 1,349 1,439 1,479 1,561 1,638 1,709 1,767 
			 Personal dental services (discretionary)  — — 4 12 21 36 41 65 
			 General ophthalmic services  237 241 240 281 290 302 304 322 
			   
			 Grand total expenditure on staff and pay  20,405 21,132 22,403 24,484 26,742 29,834 32,699 36,298 
			 Percentage of total expenditure on staff and pay  62% 61% 61% 59% 60% 57% 58% 58% 
		
	
	(26) Effect of HMT technical change (discount rate from 6 per cent. to 3.5 per cent. on provisions) increased the total Department spend by about £2 billion in 2001–02. This did not affect the purchasing power of the Department. However, leads to a 2 per cent. reduction in the percentage of total expenditure on staff and pay.
	(27) Estimated.
	
		Table 2: Absolute and proportion of NHS expenditure on staff and pay (real in 2003–04 prices) £ million
		
			  Data source 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 GDP deflator  84.46 86.95 89.21 90.97 92.16 94.43 97.43 100.00 
			 Total NHS DEL DR2005 3.1 39,069 39,865 41,036 45,337 48,701 55,563 57,560 63,000 
			   
			 Pay bill: Trusts, PCTs and SHAs DH Accounts: Table 7.9   
			 General and senior managers  1,027 1,048 1,068 1,159 1,288 1,410 1,612 1,777 
			 Medics  3,142 3,275 3,499 3,808 4,228 4,737 5,171 6,023 
			 Dentists  98 98 95 103 109 122 126 119 
			 Nurses  7,453 7,378 7,521 8,058 8,575 9,346 9,897 10,371 
			 Profession allied to medicine  999 1,004 1,040 1,124 1,211 1,320 1,392 1,479 
			 Professional and scientific  671 682 699 756 822 903 957 1,037 
			 Professional and technical  542 554 592 624 685 746 816 893 
			 Other scientific, therapeutic and technical  97 94 104 112 121 123 118 129 
			 Admin and clerical  2,052 2,031 2,090 2,186 2,345 2,588 2,795 3,000 
			 Maintenance  289 263 257 254 255 255 245 237 
			 Ambulance  385 383 398 400 429 459 490 524 
			 Health care assistants  1,091 1,089 1,078 1,114 1,136 1,179 1,213 1,251 
			 All other staff  39 35 25 30 48 59 133 125 
			 Non-NHS staff  534 552 656 803 990 1,259 1,500 1,446 
			 Chairmen  29 27 25 36 37 76 129 147 
			 Miscellaneous DH Wall 36, Wall 26   
			 Department admin (current)  (28)320 (28)311 304 297 316 332 345 329 
			 Centrally held managed services current (excluding EEA medical costs)  (28)142 (28)161 (28)235 (28)345 340 438 321 632 
			 Family health services gross expenditure (cash and resource), England DR Table 6.10   
			 Total general medical services and personal medical services  3,402 3,488 3,540 3,760 4,052 4,150 4,192 4,623 
			 General dental services  1,569 1,551 1,613 1,626 1,694 1,735 1,754 1,767 
			 Personal dental services (discretionary)  — — 4 13 23 38 42 65 
			 General ophthalmic services  281 277 269 309 315 320 312 322 
			   
			 Grand total expenditure on staff and pay  24,160 24,302 25,113 26,916 29,018 31,593 33,560 36,298 
			 Percentage of total expenditure on staff and pay  62% 61% 61% 59% 60% 57% 58% 58% 
		
	
	(28) Estimated.

NHS Finance

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the spending of the (a) Cheshire and Merseyside and (b) Cumbria and Lancashire strategic health authorities has been in each of the last three years.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		Expenditure by the relevant strategic health authorities (SHAs) for 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05 (£000)
		
			 SHA 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 
		
		
			 Cheshire and Merseyside 208,150 158,778 182,356 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire 436,695 424,989 65,022 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Expenditure is taken from audited health authority summarisation forms which are prepared on a resource basis and therefore differ from cash allocations in the year. The figures have not been adjusted for inflation.
	2. Figures have been adjusted to eliminate expenditure which would be double counted where an authority acts as a lead in commissioning health care or other services.
	3. The majority of expenditure of the SHAs is for education, training and research.
	4. Reductions in expenditure between 2002–03 and 2003–04 are caused by the further transfer of commissioning from strategic health authorities to primary care trusts.
	5. Cumbria and Lancashire SHA. In 2004–05, the student grants unit expenditure (£369 million in 003–04) was transferred to the NHS Pensions Agency.
	Source:
	Audited summarisation forms of the SHAs.

NHS Land Sales

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the (a) charges and (b) receipts from NHS land sales have been each year since 1990.

Liam Byrne: Details of national health service land sales are not held centrally.
	However the table shows, drawn from the annual accounts of the various bodies concerned, receipts from the sale of all fixed assets by family health service authorities, health authorities, strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and national health service trusts in England from 1994–95 (the earliest date what information is available in this format). Details of charges relating to land sales are not held centrally.
	
		
			  (£000) 
			  Receipts from all fixed assets 
		
		
			 1994–95 202,258 
			 1995–96 254,493 
			 1996–97 129,756 
			 1997–98 252,795 
			 1998–99 191,380 
			 1999 2000 290,961 
			 2000–01 390,869 
			 2001–02 766,411 
			 2002–03 1,078,294 
			 2003–04 397,975 
			 2004–05 455,625

NHS Professionals

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) shifts and (b) hours for (i) nurses and (ii) doctors needed cover over the past 12 months; and how many in each category were filled by NHS Professionals.

Liam Byrne: Data on number of shifts and hours for doctors and nurses needing cover is not collected centrally.

NHS Reconfiguration

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will extend the consultation period on the proposed reconfiguration of strategic health authorities and primary care trusts.

Liam Byrne: Strategic health authority proposals for reconfiguration will be assessed to see whether they meet the criteria originally stated in the "Commissioning a Patient-Led NHS" document, and this process should be complete in time for the three-month public consultation to begin in December. There are no plans to change these arrangements.

NHS Staff

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to mitigate stress suffered by NHS employees.

Liam Byrne: NHS Employers are responsible for supporting the National Health Service to mitigate stress suffered by NHS employees in England. They are working closely with the Health and Safety Executive to provide guidance and support. This includes the development of a new campaign, "Stress. How are you doing?", which was launched on 2 November 2005.

NHS Trusts

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance has been given to NHS trusts on priority to be attached to (a) balancing the budget and (b) achieving their waiting list targets.

Liam Byrne: "National Standards, Local Action" was published in July 2004 and is available in the Library and on the Department's website at www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/08/60/58/04086058.pdf It sets out what is expected of national health service and social care organisations for the three financial years 2005–06 to 2007–08 in terms of national priorities and health care standards. The guidance covers expectations in relation to waiting times and finance.

Primary Care Trusts

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact the reform of primary care trusts will have on community hospitals.

Liam Byrne: It is too early to make an assessment of the impact that changes to primary care trusts will have on community hospitals. Policy work is in progress on the range of services that a modern community hospital could offer and the outcomes of the "Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" consultation will influence this.

Sexual Health

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people under 16 years attended a sexual health clinic in (a) Ribble Valley and (b) Lancashire in the last year for which figures are available.

Liam Byrne: holding answer 16 November 2005
	Sexual health services are provided at genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics and community contraception clinics. For community contraception clinics data is not collected by primary care trusts but is available for first contacts at clinics. The data shows that there were 5,000 first contacts by young people aged under 16 within the Cumbria and Lancashire Strategic Health Authority (SHA) in 2004–05.
	For GUM clinics the number of attendances are not available by age group, but age group data are collected for a selection of diagnoses and a total of 85 diagnoses 1 were made in young people aged under 16 in 2004. The data is for diagnoses made at GUM clinics within the Cumbria and Lancashire SHA and not by the patients' area of residence. For confidentiality reasons, this data is only routinely published at SHA level.
	Note:
	1 Diagnosed conditions: gonorrhoea, herpes, genital warts and chlamydia.

Smoking

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the smoking prevalence for (a) adults and (b) minors in England has been in each of the last 10 years, broken down by sex.

Caroline Flint: The prevalence of cigarette smoking amongst adults and minors are shown in the tables. Until 2000, questions on smoking were asked biannually in the general household survey.
	For minors, we have provided data for persons aged 11 to 15, referred to as pupils in the relevant publication.
	
		Prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults (persons aged 16 and over) by sex in England: 1992 to 2003 Percentage
		
			  Men Women All persons 
		
		
			 Unweighted data  
			 1992 29 27 28 
			 1994 28 25 26 
			 1996 28 27 28 
			 1998 28 26 27 
			 
			 Weighted data
			 1998 29 26 28 
			 2000 29 25 27 
			 2001 28 25 27 
			 2002 27 25 26 
			 2003 27 24 25 
		
	
	Source:
	ONS Living in Britain: Results from the 1998 and 2003 General Household Surveys.
	
		Prevalence of cigarette smoking among pupils(persons aged 11–15) by sex in England: 1992 to 2004
		
			Percentage 
			 Pupils aged 11–15 Boys Girls All pupils 
		
		
			 1992 9 10 10 
			 1993 8 11 10 
			 1994 10 13 12 
			 1996 11 15 13 
			 1998 9 12 11 
			 1999 8 10 9 
			 2000 9 12 10 
			 2001 8 11 10 
			 2002 9 11 10 
			 2003 7 11 9 
			 2004 7 10 9 
		
	
	Source:
	NHS Health and Social Care Information Centre: Smoking, drinking and drug use among young people in England in 2004.

Waiting Times

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average waiting time was in each of the last seven years for (a) an in-patient and (b) an out-patient admission in (i) Horsham and (ii) England.

Liam Byrne: The median waiting times for in-patient and out-patient admission for each of the last seven years at Horsham Chanctonbury primary care trust, previously West Sussex health authority and England are shown in the following table.
	
		Estimated average time patients have been waiting for elective admission, March 1998 to March 2005. Commissioner based.
		
			  Median waiting time (weeks) 
			 March Horsham and Chanctonbury PCT West Sussex HA England 
		
		
			 1998 — 23.0 14.9 
			 1999 — 19.5 12.9 
			 2000 — 18.7 12.9 
			 2001 — 18.8 12.6 
			 2002 — 16.6 12.7 
			 2003 12.94 — 11.9 
			 2004 11.39 — 10.2 
			 2005 10.42 — 8.5 
		
	
	Source:
	Department of Health form QF01
	
		Estimated average waiting time for first outpatient appointment following GP written referral, March 1998 to March 2005. Commissioner based.
		
			  Median waiting time (weeks) 
			 March Horsham and Chanctonbury PCT West Sussex HA England 
		
		
			 1998 — 7.0 6.4 
			 1999 — 8.0 7.0 
			 2000 — 9.0 7.7 
			 2001 — 8.4 7.5 
			 2002 — 9.3 7.6 
			 2003 9.53 — 7.4 
			 2004 8.90 — 7.1 
			 2005 8.05 — 7.0 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Horsham and Chanctonbury PCT established in April 2002.
	2. Figures before then are shown for West Sussex health authority.
	Source:
	Department of Health form QM08R

Your Health, Your Care, Your Say

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many "Your Health, Your Care, Your Say" consultation meetings were organised by each strategic health authority; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The information requested is not held centrally. Some strategic health authorities coordinated and others left this to primary care trusts.

Alcohol Abuse

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government are taking to reduce the number of youths (a) drinking and (b) buying alcohol.

Paul Goggins: The Government take underage drinking extremely seriously. That is why we are taking forward work through the Alcohol Harm Reduction Programme to tackle it. Recent activities in the Programme have included the Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaigns in which the police have clamped down on underage drinking—through fixed penalty notices for both buying alcohol while underage and those who buy alcohol on behalf of children, test-purchase operations on licensed premises and confiscating alcohol from young people.
	We have also been working closely with the alcohol industry to develop a Principles and Standards document which includes a commitment to prevent sales to under-18s through a "Challenge 21" approach and better staff training. The Licensing Act 2003, which comes into force on 24 November 2005, will make it an offence to sell alcohol to minors anywhere in England and Wales, and introduces tougher penalties for those who do. The Violent Crime Reduction Bill builds on this through new powers for the police to close premises for up to 48-hours where alcohol is persistently sold to under-18s.

Alcohol-related Offences

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people under the age of 30 years in the area corresponding most closely to Lancaster and Wyre constituency (a) were subject to alcohol treatment orders and (b) were convicted of alcohol-related offences (i) in the last 12 months and (ii) in each year since 1997.

Paul Goggins: The number of offenders under the age of 30 who were proceeded against or committed from Lancaster and Wyre magistrates courts and given a community rehabilitation order with drug/alcohol treatment is provided in the following table. It is not possible to identify the number of persons under the age of 30 who were found guilty of alcohol-related offences, as the individual circumstances of the offence are not collected. Statistics for 2004 will be available in late November.
	
		Number of offenders under the age of 30 proceeded against or committed from Lancaster and Wyre magistrates courts and given a community rehabilitation order with drug/alcohol treatment, 1997–2003
		
			  Number issued 
		
		
			 1997 6 
			 1998 11 
			 1999 5 
			 2000 1 
			 2001 - 
			 2002 1 
			 2003 - 
		
	
	Note:
	These data are on the principal offence basis.
	Source:
	RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Algerian Nationals

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Algerian nationals have been granted (a) indefinite leave to remain and (b) British nationality in each of the last eight years.

Tony McNulty: Statistics on settlement (indefinite leave to enter and remain) by nationality and British nationality are published annually. The latest published information on settlement is in the annual Command Paper "Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom, 2003". The 2004 edition is due to be published in November.
	Information on British nationality is published in annual statistical bulletins entitled "Persons Granted British Citizenship". The latest edition is that for 2004. Copies are available from the Library and on the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate website at http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html

Asylum/Immigration

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many calls have been made to (a) the MPs hotline and (b) each other section of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate in each quarter of each of the last three years; what the average time taken to answer each call was in each section; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The following tables provide the information requested on the performance of the MPs hotline and on the other call centres in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate. The MPs hotline receives between 2,500 to 3,500 calls per month of which the majority are answered in three to four seconds.
	The other call centres in the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Directorate receive substantially more calls than the MPs hotline and their time taken to answer ranges from less than one minute to over four minutes for the Nationality Helpdesk in Liverpool. The Nationality Helpdesk was created on 31 January 2005.
	
		MPs hotline
		
			  Number of calls made Average time taken to answer 
		
		
			 July to September 2003 6,530 (29)— 
			 October to December 2003 6,627 (29)— 
			 January to March 2004 7,076 (29)— 
			 April to June 2004 7,633 (29)— 
			 July to September 2004 8,592 (29)— 
			 October to December 2004 8,092 (29)— 
			 January to March 2005 8,701 (29)— 
			 April to June 2005 6,466 (29)— 
			 July to September 2005 9,955 (29)— 
			 October to 4 November 3,929 (29)— 
		
	
	(29) Information not available currently but 79 per cent. of calls answered in 3 to 4 seconds.
	
		Evidence and enquiries including employers helpline
		
			  Number of calls made Average time taken to answer 
		
		
			 January to March 2004 35,057 (30)— 
			 April to June 2004 47,665 (30)— 
			 July to September 2004 37,859 (30)— 
			 October to December 2004 36,778 (30)— 
			 January to March 2005 36,459 (30)— 
			 April to June 2005 40,019 (30)— 
			 July to September 2005 37,334 (30)— 
			 October to 4 November 11,620 (30)— 
		
	
	(30) Information not available but 95 per cent. of calls answered in 15 seconds.
	
		Work permits UK contact centre, Sheffield
		
			  Number of calls made Average time taken to answer 
		
		
			 January to March 2003 n /a n /a 
			 April to June 2003 n /a n /a 
			 July to September 2003 n /a n /a 
			 October to December 2003 n /a n /a 
			 January to March 2004 n /a n /a 
			 April to June 2004 n /a n /a 
			 July to September 2004 n /a n /a 
			 October to December 2004 n /a n /a 
			 January to March 2005 n /a n /a 
			 April to June 2005 116,576 3:14 
			 July to September 2005 61,576 1:43 
			 October to 4 November 24,480 2:16 
		
	
	n/a = Information not available.
	
		Nationality helpdesk, Liverpool
		
			  Number of calls made Average time taken to answer 
		
		
			 January to March 2005 n /a 9:40 
			 April to June 2005 455,747 6:23 
			 July to September 2005 378,186 5:26 
			 October to 4 November 189,993 4:44 
		
	
	n/a = Information not available.
	
		Immigration and Nationality Enquiry Bureau, Croydon
		
			  Number of calls made Number of calls handled Average time taken to answer 
		
		
			 October to December 2003 n /a 347,343 2:15 
			 January to March 2004 n /a 397,909 1:33 
			 April to June 2004 n /a 379,062 2:05 
			 July to September 2004 n /a 386,900 2:38 
			 October to December 2004 n /a 393,090 1:44 
			 January to March 2005 n /a 394,363 2:01 
			 April to June 2005 1,196,005 373,441 1:34 
			 July to September 2005 1,300,247 391,954 1:22 
			 October to 9 November (31)459,224 (31)155,052 (31)0:55 
		
	
	n/a = Information not available.
	(31) YTD.

Border Police

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions he has had with (a) police chief constables and (b) the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis about the introduction of a British border police force; and if he will make a statement.

Charles Clarke: I have had a number of discussions with the Chief Constable Chair of ACPO and the Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis on the management of United Kingdom borders.
	The Government have no plans at present to create a single border control police force or agency. The White Paper "One Step Ahead—A 21st Century Strategy to Defeat Organised Crime" tasked Customs, IND and the police to work together to develop options for providing more effective border controls through enhanced inter-agency co-operation. With this in view, the Border Management Programme was established to take this forward. The programme reports to Home Office and Treasury Ministers.
	It is establishing more effective collaborative working between the border agencies to better target threats to UK security and to ensure that legitimate traffic can pass smoothly across our borders.

Child Safety

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps the Government are taking to improve child safety on the streets.

Paul Goggins: The Street Crime Initiative, launched in 2002, was aimed at improving the safety of individuals on the streets. The initiative succeeded in reversing the sharp upward trend in robbery levels and, over three years, reduced robbery by 32 per cent. in the ten street crime areas. The lessons learned from the initiative form the basis of good practice guidance which has been disseminated to all police forces by the Association of Chief Police Officers.
	Throughout the course of the initiative, a range of preventative and intervention schemes aimed at young people were introduced, for example "Positive Activities for Young People and Safer School Partnerships", which now play a key part in the delivery of the cross departmental programme to tackle youth crime.
	Another example is the "SAFE" campaign. In January 2005, in conjunction with Crime stoppers, we ran "SAFE"-a national anti-robbery week in schools. The campaign, which included assembly and lesson plans, provided young people with the knowledge and skills to avoid situations that increase their vulnerability to street crime. It supported and reinforced messages and information provided by local schemes, such as the "Street Wise" project in Havering, which raises young people's awareness and assists in increasing their personal safety. The campaign was delivered to 11–14 year olds in secondary schools throughout England and Wales. We are currently updating the materials with a view to running the campaign again in January 2006.

Child Trafficking

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many child traffickers have been convicted of offences and deported back to their country of origin in each of the last five years.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 8 November 2005
	It is not possible to provide this information as there is no specific offence of "child trafficking".

Crack Houses

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crack houses have been (a) identified and (b) closed in each (i) police authority and (ii) London borough since 2001.

Paul Goggins: Data is not routinely collected centrally on the number of crack houses identified or closed in England and Wales. A one off survey by Government office regions revealed that in the period 20 January to the end of September 2004 158 "crack houses" were closed. The following table sets out the detail. During Operation Crackdown, the intensive police operation that took place between 12 January and 31 March 2005 the 33 participating police forces reported closing 175 "crack houses."
	
		
			 Government office region "Crack houses" closed 
		
		
			 South East 23 
			 South West 24 
			 East Midlands 10 
			 West Midlands 3 
			 North West 13 
			 North East 7 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 4 
			 Wales 5 
			 London 64 
			 East of England 5

Drugs Offences

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) arrests, (b) convictions and (c) cautions there were in each police authority area for offences relating to (i) the possession and (ii) dealing in class (A) A, (B) B and (C) C drugs in each year since 1997.

Paul Goggins: Data from the Home Office Court Proceedings Database on the number of cautions and convictions for possession of and dealing in drugs, broken down by class of drug, is provided in the following table. Data for 2004 will be available at the end of November. The information requested on arrests is not collected centrally.
	
		Number of offenders found guilty for selected drug offences, by police force area: England and Wales, 1997 to 2003
		
			 Offence 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Possession of a class A drug
			 Avon and Somerset 205 183 239 219 209 192 182 
			 Bedfordshire 30 57 82 79 112 62 25 
			 Cambridgeshire 48 76 97 86 119 100 77 
			 Cheshire 180 221 238 209 200 161 134 
			 Cleveland 41 94 135 196 195 267 257 
			 Cumbria 62 78 68 69 68 101 104 
			 Derbyshire 64 76 106 149 167 166 160 
			 Devon and Cornwall 170 141 182 206 257 361 469 
			 Dorset 67 102 141 178 173 195 186 
			 Durham 24 30 27 67 126 123 123 
			 Essex 117 163 198 193 198 167 164 
			 Gloucestershire 54 88 100 141 149 128 107 
			 Greater Manchester 314 324 277 346 361 381 425 
			 Hampshire 117 158 217 291 308 285 283 
			 Hertfordshire 60 57 78 85 97 84 110 
			 Humberside 83 84 100 113 125 98 124 
			 Kent 75 112 199 236 242 289 218 
			 Lancashire 262 319 288 326 357 391 339 
			 Leicestershire 63 80 122 170 250 221 175 
			 Lincolnshire 64 63 50 53 183 154 151 
			 London 1,503 2,089 2,557 2,376 2,434 2,384 2,158 
			 Merseyside 270 314 319 305 284 288 355 
			 Norfolk 76 92 113 117 131 150 162 
			 North Yorkshire 116 114 138 121 77 77 79 
			 Northamptonshire 31 76 84 76 91 60 46 
			 Northumbria 90 123 193 285 478 461 505 
			 Nottinghamshire 67 127 194 260 286 275 279 
			 South Yorkshire 261 384 470 513 489 376 379 
			 Staffordshire 183 192 181 140 155 194 211 
			 Suffolk 59 45 61 72 79 98 105 
			 Surrey 58 46 64 82 118 103 87 
			 Sussex 123 116 128 130 163 177 168 
			 Thames Valley 156 238 297 285 293 334 273 
			 Warwickshire 28 30 54 50 58 55 41 
			 West Mercia 82 109 171 195 245 141 163 
			 West Midlands 189 272 409 637 875 861 794 
			 West Yorkshire 734 798 772 692 519 583 542 
			 Wiltshire 47 55 67 118 153 104 80 
			 Dyfed-Powys 59 99 101 137 135 168 137 
			 Gwent 100 185 204 168 154 147 105 
			 North Wales 73 74 79 103 111 119 144 
			 South Wales 80 83 120 165 324 336 359 
			 
			 Possession of a class B drug
			 Avon and Somerset 175 238 300 352 307 306 313 
			 Bedfordshire 240 335 318 230 237 80 75 
			 Cambridgeshire 182 190 172 113 127 108 140 
			 Cheshire 442 590 596 452 397 518 477 
			 Cleveland 105 149 249 261 288 434 472 
			 Cumbria 268 280 243 184 150 205 235 
			 Derbyshire 215 262 315 235 262 252 286 
			 Devon and Cornwall 680 803 712 623 493 596 598 
			 Dorset 133 272 342 304 308 319 369 
			 Durham 140 148 177 255 341 316 323 
			 Essex 566 645 646 619 605 598 549 
			 Gloucestershire 160 210 220 181 236 239 212 
			 Greater Manchester 741 919 969 974 999 1,245 1,452 
			 Hampshire 665 945 1,074 803 530 315 485 
			 Hertfordshire 299 277 266 248 254 287 329 
			 Humberside 196 275 296 270 233 320 339 
			 Kent 700 1,060 1,056 875 815 905 726 
			 Lancashire 799 1,101 981 790 749 874 891 
			 Leicestershire 312 391 307 249 305 380 415 
			 Lincolnshire 381 408 210 180 290 261 297 
			 London 4,184 5,659 5,403 4,802 4,571 5,850 6,346 
			 Merseyside 1,275 1,567 1,403 1,070 1,005 1,377 1,572 
			 Norfolk 367 438 385 269 249 278 356 
			 North Yorkshire 272 428 385 176 119 155 175 
			 Northamptonshire 86 178 150 139 87 73 70 
			 Northumbria 433 896 1,129 1,067 1,174 1,315 1,332 
			 Nottinghamshire 306 327 360 321 327 351 420 
			 South Yorkshire 520 610 692 699 640 672 807 
			 Staffordshire 308 343 305 170 170 258 303 
			 Suffolk 263 284 276 229 183 230 256 
			 Surrey 235 281 337 372 345 330 295 
			 Sussex 396 408 344 297 413 441 419 
			 Thames Valley 637 781 732 607 651 712 625 
			 Warwickshire 85 101 104 106 73 80 101 
			 West Mercia 313 374 345 244 230 211 224 
			 West Midlands 900 1,354 1,275 1,402 1,572 1,794 1,989 
			 West Yorkshire 1,141 1,396 1,209 971 905 956 1,104 
			 Wiltshire 140 202 243 186 226 181 181 
			 Dyfed-Powys 350 566 528 400 497 514 528 
			 Gwent 258 331 339 375 317 272 321 
			 North Wales 293 437 430 316 280 308 389 
			 South Wales 750 900 864 795 1,000 1,223 1,297 
			 
			 Possession of a class C drug
			 Avon and Somerset 1 1 2 6 5 4 8 
			 Bedfordshire 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 1 2 0 0 0 3 0 
			 Cheshire 5 8 4 5 2 1 1 
			 Cleveland 4 4 0 0 0 1 3 
			 Cumbria 1 1 0 0 1 2 4 
			 Derbyshire 4 5 6 5 5 5 4 
			 Devon and Cornwall 4 6 8 0 4 2 6 
			 Dorset 1 2 3 1 1 2 6 
			 Durham 2 1 3 4 3 6 2 
			 Essex 4 2 5 1 0 1 0 
			 Gloucestershire 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 
			 Greater Manchester 12 16 3 9 10 7 11 
			 Hampshire 6 6 5 2 241 371 324 
			 Hertfordshire 1 0 0 0 3 0 1 
			 Humberside 15 17 12 10 8 13 11 
			 Kent 1 9 4 4 6 6 2 
			 Lancashire 10 5 9 7 6 4 8 
			 Leicestershire 2 1 3 5 2 6 6 
			 Lincolnshire 3 1 1 2 1 2 2 
			 London 13 11 12 10 5 9 24 
			 Merseyside 5 11 10 3 3 1 6 
			 Norfolk 1 4 2 2 0 1 0 
			 North Yorkshire 4 4 4 1 1 2 5 
			 Northamptonshire 3 0 0 1 3 3 4 
			 Northumbria 8 19 17 11 18 20 24 
			 Nottinghamshire 1 5 2 1 1 2 6 
			 South Yorkshire 3 9 3 5 4 5 2 
			 Staffordshire 2 6 5 0 2 2 4 
			 Suffolk 0 0 0 2 1 1 2 
			 Surrey 2 1 4 0 0 0 1 
			 Sussex 4 1 2 4 4 3 6 
			 Thames Valley 1 0 3 2 1 3 2 
			 Warwickshire 1 0 0 0 0 2 2 
			 West Mercia 1 1 4 0 3 1 1 
			 West Midlands 1 2 4 2 4 8 5 
			 West Yorkshire 2 6 4 2 2 2 5 
			 Wiltshire 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 
			 Dyfed-Powys 4 5 2 2 7 11 4 
			 Gwent 2 3 2 1 3 3 2 
			 North Wales 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 
			 South Wales 7 9 8 5 6 17 7 
			 
			 Dealing class A
			 Avon and Somerset 103 126 123 115 105 122 157 
			 Bedfordshire 33 37 33 30 47 55 58 
			 Cambridgeshire 16 42 34 46 62 63 146 
			 Cheshire 80 77 94 87 78 102 82 
			 Cleveland 51 40 55 67 115 126 141 
			 Cumbria 54 33 94 37 62 56 65 
			 Derbyshire 62 49 53 71 95 136 107 
			 Devon and Cornwall 78 51 110 83 137 137 158 
			 Dorset 33 52 46 51 60 55 41 
			 Durham 27 32 47 65 81 66 64 
			 Essex 77 85 69 88 69 96 80 
			 Gloucestershire 17 26 26 33 33 36 49 
			 Greater Manchester 329 360 386 351 289 316 363 
			 Hampshire 60 57 112 105 138 117 145 
			 Hertfordshire 26 29 32 29 57 61 51 
			 Humberside 86 68 105 73 73 115 110 
			 Kent 64 123 121 187 131 123 152 
			 Lancashire 177 103 154 154 189 254 322 
			 Leicestershire 21 40 23 51 61 71 90 
			 Lincolnshire 11 13 28 20 41 40 54 
			 London 676 946 1,086 1,056 1,474 1,433 1,253 
			 Merseyside 157 155 137 232 214 241 332 
			 Norfolk 38 49 57 71 48 60 47 
			 North Yorkshire 27 37 30 42 52 52 51 
			 Northamptonshire 33 35 44 57 51 37 36 
			 Northumbria 89 95 80 170 210 193 223 
			 Nottinghamshire 61 48 112 124 134 130 137 
			 South Yorkshire 103 164 118 147 197 145 203 
			 Staffordshire 116 109 99 111 75 123 92 
			 Suffolk 39 54 33 39 33 35 50 
			 Surrey 22 11 28 45 47 55 50 
			 Sussex 62 204 219 243 334 379 289 
			 Thames Valley 119 120 115 95 137 129 134 
			 Warwickshire 25 31 26 35 29 27 21 
			 West Mercia 72 85 80 111 137 100 104 
			 West Midlands 129 159 146 247 305 301 385 
			 West Yorkshire 340 322 468 504 468 333 265 
			 Wiltshire 33 19 26 46 60 55 48 
			 Dyfed-Powys 40 27 55 52 73 63 60 
			 Gwent 39 53 48 56 79 61 36 
			 North Wales 47 45 31 45 56 45 44 
			 South Wales 54 63 81 113 189 177 183 
			 
			 Dealing class B
			 Avon and Somerset 113 127 112 99 76 75 92 
			 Bedfordshire 59 50 49 39 24 23 32 
			 Cambridgeshire 94 66 86 40 20 41 30 
			 Cheshire 133 122 65 69 41 43 50 
			 Cleveland 82 62 50 46 39 50 54 
			 Cumbria 91 81 51 42 19 37 43 
			 Derbyshire 108 107 87 90 80 57 57 
			 Devon and Cornwall 277 245 199 138 96 126 102 
			 Dorset 58 87 81 55 33 37 44 
			 Durham 102 122 86 65 57 56 67 
			 Essex 172 203 166 88 83 91 81 
			 Gloucestershire 46 51 39 33 11 17 24 
			 Greater Manchester 389 370 427 392 248 254 283 
			 Hampshire 273 329 231 160 84 108 177 
			 Hertfordshire 78 66 68 51 47 42 44 
			 Humberside 141 148 128 82 46 60 71 
			 Kent 197 378 228 150 108 106 119 
			 Lancashire 194 233 151 105 65 115 116 
			 Leicestershire 140 135 107 92 55 68 99 
			 Lincolnshire 90 78 58 34 33 36 29 
			 London 923 997 862 558 607 725 621 
			 Merseyside 193 186 134 121 85 64 85 
			 Norfolk 155 96 119 66 38 54 61 
			 North Yorkshire 78 83 85 53 35 52 49 
			 Northamptonshire 87 88 68 54 19 27 17 
			 Northumbria 252 306 214 171 155 136 156 
			 Nottinghamshire 195 166 148 133 101 84 121 
			 South Yorkshire 224 255 189 129 114 94 142 
			 Staffordshire 127 128 91 105 61 74 88 
			 Suffolk 93 107 91 78 46 42 61 
			 Surrey 66 67 59 45 40 32 40 
			 Sussex 129 183 124 129 149 154 154 
			 Thames Valley 216 215 171 117 118 104 118 
			 Warwickshire 61 49 29 25 15 20 39 
			 West Mercia 147 144 97 98 74 56 60 
			 West Midlands 367 350 347 290 232 237 276 
			 West Yorkshire 407 421 304 232 123 113 156 
			 Wiltshire 51 86 61 53 28 30 49 
			 Dyfed-Powys 160 169 120 102 60 71 72 
			 Gwent 114 126 119 82 75 42 58 
			 North Wales 88 127 69 50 38 46 33 
			 South Wales 261 297 297 187 131 146 165 
			 
			 Dealing class C
			 Avon and Somerset 0 2 1 0 0 0 1 
			 Bedfordshire 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Cheshire 1 2 1 0 0 1 2 
			 Cleveland 2 3 5 1 4 2 5 
			 Cumbria 2 1 1 0 1 0 2 
			 Derbyshire 0 1 0 0 3 0 1 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1 1 0 0 2 0 0 
			 Dorset 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 
			 Durham 5 2 3 1 1 3 5 
			 Essex 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Gloucestershire 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 
			 Greater Manchester 7 8 3 5 3 4 5 
			 Hampshire 1 1 0 2 0 2 1 
			 Humberside 1 2 1 0 2 4 4 
			 Kent 2 2 0 0 0 0 2 
			 Lancashire 3 2 5 2 0 0 0 
			 Leicestershire 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Lincolnshire 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 
			 London 4 5 2 3 2 4 4 
			 Merseyside 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 
			 Norfolk 1 2 2 0 1 1 0 
			 North Yorkshire 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Northamptonshire 0 2 0 0 1 0 1 
			 Northumbria 9 12 7 5 9 10 4 
			 Nottinghamshire 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 
			 South Yorkshire 3 1 0 2 0 2 2 
			 Staffordshire 0 1 0 0 2 1 0 
			 Suffolk 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 
			 Surrey 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 
			 Sussex 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 
			 Thames Valley 0 1 2 1 0 0 1 
			 Warwickshire 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 
			 West Mercia 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 
			 West Midlands 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 
			 West Yorkshire 4 4 1 15 19 22 10 
			 Wiltshire 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 
			 Dyfed-Powys 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 
			 Gwent 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 
			 North Wales 0 4 1 2 0 0 0 
			 South Wales 6 1 6 3 2 5 5 
		
	
	Note:
	These data are on a principal offence basis.
	Source:
	RDS—Office for Criminal Justice Reform.

Freedom of Information

Peter Law: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to his Department passed to the FOI clearing house for evaluation, broken down by (a) subject and (b) date of request.

Charles Clarke: Information about the handling of Freedom of Information requests is published in Freedom of Information Statistics on Implementation in central Government.
	The most recently published report was 30 September 2005 and copies are in the Libraries of both Houses. Additional information about the role of the Clearing House can be found on the DCA website at http://www.foi.gov.uk/guidance/index.htm2. Departments do not release information about the internal handling of requests, such as details of which requests were referred to the Clearing House for guidance.

Immigration Checks

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department during which hours each day (a) passport control and (b) customs and immigration checks are operated at (i) Newhaven Port and (ii) Eurotunnel.

Andy Burnham: At Newhaven, the immigration control is usually operated between 0500 hours to 2300 hours seven days a week. The operating hours are dependent on the number, and times, of the ferry arrivals at Newhaven. For operational reasons it is not HMRC policy to disclose particular deployment patterns to specific ports or airports. The immigration controls operating on the Eurotunnel site in France are staffed by immigration officers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Police Reform Act (Schedule 4)

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been detained by a community support officer for up to 30 minutes under paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 to the Police Reform Act 2002 in each of the last four years, broken down by police authority.

Charles Clarke: The information requested is not collected centrally.